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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

SEC confirms staff statements create no enforceable legal obligations

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance SEC Supervision Enforcement Securities

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

On September 13, Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) Chairman, Jay Clayton, issued a statement confirming that staff communications, in the form of written statements, compliance guides, letters, speeches, responses to frequently asked questions, and responses to specific requests for assistance, are “nonbinding and create no enforceable legal rights or obligations of the Commission or other parties.” Clayton’s statement echoes a similar position taken in a joint statement by five federal agencies regarding supervisory guidance, released two days earlier (previously covered by InfoBytes here). Clayton emphasized that only Commission adopted rules and regulations have the force and effect of law and encouraged public engagement on staff statements in order to assist the Commission in developing future rules and regulations.