Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC, refers to an independent agency of the United States Federal Government. This agency is responsible for upholding and enforcing the Federal Securities laws and is in charge of proposing securities rules. But ultimately, the function of the SEC is to regulate the securities industry, the American stock and options exchange, and other related activities and organizations. 

Apart from the Securities Exchange Act of 194 that had created it, the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, alongside a number of other statutes.