U.S. Securities and 

Exchange Commission

STRATEGIC 

PLAN

FISCAL YEARS 2018–2022

Protecting Investors

Maintaining Fair, Orderly, and 

Efficient Markets

Facilitating Capital Formation
Contents

Message from the Chairman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

About the SEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Our Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Our Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Our Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Our Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

How This Plan Was Developed . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
FY 2018–FY 2022 STRATEGIC PLAN | 1

Message from the Chairman

During my first year as SEC Chairman, I have enjoyed engaging 

with my 4,500 colleagues and various market participants, 

including our Main Street investors, to get their perspectives 

on how well the agency is performing, where we can do better, 

and what challenges we need to tackle, all with an eye toward 

ensuring that we are effectively pursuing our mission. These 

conversations are extremely valuable and I want them to 

continue. I am particularly grateful to my fellow Commissioners 

for regularly, thoughtfully, and constructively sharing their 

perspectives, insights, and expertise on how we can best serve the American people. 

These discussions, combined with input from Congress, our fellow regulators, and others 

who focus on our performance, have substantially informed the document that is now 

before you—a Strategic Plan for FY 2018 through FY 2022. The Plan provides a forwardlooking framework for making the SEC even more effective, focusing on the most important 

goals and initiatives that will best position the SEC to fulfill our mission. These goals and 

initiatives span our 5 divisions and 25 offices and incorporate the key values that have 

benefited the agency for its 84 years.

For the investing public and the various market participants and regulatory authorities who 

interact with the SEC, we hope this Strategic Plan will inspire your full confidence in our 

ability to innovate in response to evolving markets. For my dedicated colleagues at the SEC, 

I hope this new Strategic Plan will focus our efforts on continuing to make the SEC a great 

place to work with great reasons to come to work. Pursuing the Plan and achieving its goals 

will require a continuation of the shared commitment to our mission that I have been so 

impressed with since I joined the Commission in May 2017. 

America’s investors have high expectations for us. Let’s exceed them!

 

 Jay Clayton
2 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

About the SEC

The SEC is an independent federal agency, established pursuant to the Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934, headed by a five-member Commission. The Commissioners are appointed 

by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The President designates one of the 

Commissioners as the Chairman. 

The federal securities laws task the SEC with a broad and diverse set of responsibilities, 

including to: 

• Engage and interact with the investing public directly on a daily basis through a 

variety of channels, including investor roundtables and education programs and alerts 

on SEC.gov; 

• Oversee approximately $82 trillion in securities trading annually on U.S. equity markets; 

• Oversee approximately $40 trillion in the U.S. fixed income market;

• Selectively review the disclosures and financial statements of approximately 4,300 

exchange-listed public companies with an aggregate market capitalization of $30 trillion; 

• Oversee the activities of over 26,000 registered market participants, including investment 

advisers, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, broker-dealers, municipal advisors, and 

transfer agents, who employ at least 940,000 individuals in the United States; 

• Oversee 21 national securities exchanges, 10 credit rating agencies, 7 active registered 

clearing agencies, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the 

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking 

Board (MSRB), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and the Financial 

Accounting Standards Board (FASB); and

• Provide critical market services through information technology systems, such as the 

more than 50 million pages of disclosure documents available on the Electronic Data 

Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system.

The five Commission members act jointly to set and enforce the rules that govern the 

securities markets and its participants. The Chairman is responsible for overseeing the 

executive and administrative functions of the agency and our approximately 4,500 staff 

members, who are organized into 5 divisions and 25 offices, located in our Washington, DC, 

headquarters and 11 regional offices. This Strategic Plan sets forth the Chairman’s vision 

as the SEC’s senior accountable executive. It was developed in consultation with, and with 

input from, all Commission members, but may not necessarily represent the views of all 

Commissioners.
FY 2018–FY 2022 STRATEGIC PLAN | 3

Our Mission

To protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate 

capital formation.

Our Vision

To promote capital markets that inspire public confidence and provide a diverse array of 

financial opportunities to retail and institutional investors, entrepreneurs, public companies, 

and other market participants.

Our Values

INTEGRITY We inspire public confidence and trust by adhering to the highest 

ethical standards.

EXCELLENCE We are committed to excellence in pursuit of our mission on behalf 

of the American public.

ACCOUNTABILITY We embrace our responsibilities and hold ourselves accountable to 

the American public.

TEAMWORK We recognize that success depends on a skilled, diverse, coordinated 

team committed to the highest standards of trust, hard work, 

cooperation, and communication.

FAIRNESS We treat investors, market participants, and others fairly and in 

accordance with the law.

EFFECTIVENESS We strive for innovative, flexible, and pragmatic regulatory 

approaches that achieve our goals and recognize the ever-changing 

nature of our capital markets. 
4 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Our Goals

Focusing on Investors, Innovation, and Performance

The SEC’s long-standing tripartite mission—to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, 

and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation—remains our touchstone. The core 

principles we have applied over the past 84 years to carry out this mission are timeless: 

requiring sellers of securities to make material disclosures to facilitate informed decisionmaking; placing heightened responsibilities on key market participants; and using our 

examination and enforcement resources to bolster those requirements and protect investors.

Over the past decade, the SEC has undertaken significant efforts to respond to the lessons 

learned from the global financial crisis. These efforts, combined with those of our regulatory 

colleagues, have made our capital markets stronger and more resilient. This is an important 

achievement, but we should not be satisfied. Our securities markets and the technologies 

that support those markets and our internal operations are also evolving and innovating at 

a fast pace. These changes present numerous benefits, as well as challenges. Future success 

requires the SEC to be efficient and nimble in the allocation of our resources.
FY 2018–FY 2022 STRATEGIC PLAN | 5

GOAL 1. Focus on the long-term interests of our 

Main Street investors.

Investors have long looked to the securities markets to grow their hard-earned savings to 

fund important life events, including buying a new home, paying for college, and funding 

retirement. These needs are ever-changing. 

Today, significant numbers of Americans are nearing retirement age and living longer in 

retirement. This has put increased importance on the investment products that retirees rely 

on for stable income. The continuing evolution away from company-managed retirement 

plans to 401(k) plans also means that today’s workers must shoulder more responsibility 

for saving and investing for retirement compared to prior generations. 

Other areas also have experienced substantial evolution. When Main Street investors 

seek professional advice, their choices all too often are not as clear as they should be. The 

distinction between investment professionals who sell securities and those who provide 

investment advice has become less clear. This lack of clarity makes it challenging for 

investors to understand what standards of conduct govern the investment professionals 

who assist them. Contemporaneously, the number of companies raising capital through the 

public securities markets has declined, and those that are joining our public disclosure and 

offering regime are doing so later in their lifecycle. This dynamic has reduced the number of 

opportunities our Main Street investors have to invest in companies, including those in the 

emerging and growth sectors of our economy. 

Market developments such as these make the SEC’s vigilance more important than ever. 

They also require us to reassess the tools, methods, and approaches used in the past and 

adapt them to ensure their continued effectiveness. Most importantly, as our markets 

change, we should deploy our resources in the way that most benefits the long-term 

interests of our Main Street investors. 

The SEC has identified five initiatives in pursuit of this strategic goal and our efforts to 

mitigate and respond to the identified challenges.

1.1 Enhance our understanding of the channels retail and institutional 

investors use to access our capital markets to more effectively tailor 

our policy initiatives.

We should gain deeper insight into how different types of investors participate in 

our capital markets. Armed with this information, we can better deploy the agency’s 

resources to address new or emerging risks to investors, which could facilitate 

additional investment opportunities that address investor needs and goals. 
6 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

1.2 Enhance our outreach, education, and consultation efforts, including in 

ways that are reflective of the diversity of investors and businesses. 

Our regulatory programs should reflect the reality that not all investors, businesses, 

and securities markets are the same. Through this initiative, the SEC will expand 

outreach to retail investors and small businesses to better enable the agency to hear 

their various perspectives, and to ensure we provide investors and businesses timely 

and relevant guidance.

1.3 Pursue enforcement and examination initiatives focused on identifying 

and addressing misconduct that impacts retail investors.

Today’s interconnected world market offers new opportunities for securities 

manipulation, fraud, and abuse, while also giving new life to age-old scams like 

Ponzi schemes. Through this initiative, the SEC plans to expand our efforts in 

various areas, including, for example, securities custody and penny stock trading. 

Recently, increased focus in these areas has detected and, we believe, deterred fraud 

that impacts our retail investors.

1.4 Modernize design, delivery, and content of disclosure so investors, including 

in particular retail investors, can access readable, useful, and timely 

information to make informed investment decisions.

With more Americans directly responsible for their own investment choices, 

access to timely, material, and quality business and accounting disclosure to 

inform investment decisions has increased in importance. The SEC will continue 

to reexamine business and accounting disclosure requirements and modernize 

EDGAR, the information technology system that filers use to make critical public 

disclosures for the benefit of current or prospective investors. These initiatives 

should make it easier for investors to find key information, while also making the 

system more efficient and secure for filers. 

1.5 Identify ways to increase the number and range of long-term, cost-effective 

investment options available to retail investors, including by expanding the 

number of companies that are SEC-registered and exchange-listed. 

Through this initiative, the SEC will focus attention on facilitating vibrant public 

securities markets, which offer a growing array of investment choices so that retail 

investors have access to investment opportunities appropriate to their personal 

financial goals. 
FY 2018–FY 2022 STRATEGIC PLAN | 7

GOAL 2. Recognize significant developments and trends 

in our evolving capital markets and adjust our efforts 

to ensure we are effectively allocating our resources.

Data security and the rapid transmission of data are vital to the functioning of the U.S. 

and global securities markets. Technology has fundamentally altered consumer interactions 

with securities market participants. On a continuous basis, investors make critical, longterm decisions that are routed through the complex IT systems underpinning the securities 

markets. Main Street investors rely less on traditional personalized advisory services; they 

are increasingly seeking advice and pursuing trades that are informed by data analytics and 

executed via algorithms on electronic platforms. And, with market participants constantly 

searching for new technology to improve the efficiency and security of transactions, this type 

of change should be expected to continue.

The benefits and costs of these changes are significant in scope and magnitude and, in some 

cases, are not easily identified or measured. Transaction costs have come down, and efficiency 

and fairness have increased in many of our markets. However, increased use of, and reliance 

on, technology has introduced new risks and, in some cases, amplified better known market 

risks. For example, cybersecurity threats to the complex system that helps the markets 

function are constant and growing in scale and sophistication. 

Similarly, our markets are interconnected and interdependent. They function on a 24-hour 

cycle and across geographic barriers. Information from one market impacts others, and 

capital flows across our markets, both geographically and in asset type, in amounts that 

would have been unimaginable only a few decades ago. Those looking to raise capital can 

explore an array of choices beyond our public capital markets, as private markets and foreign 

markets have become highly competitive and efficient. These developments also create 

regulatory and oversight challenges as the operations of large investment firms extend well 

beyond our borders, and new entrants to our markets—such as some of the recent sponsors 

of initial coin offerings, or ICOs—may seek to avoid or evade our securities laws. The need 

for coordination with fellow financial regulators, including foreign regulators, will continue 

to rise. Global risks are U.S. risks, and wrongdoing that affects the U.S. markets increasingly 

occurs outside our country. 

The SEC has identified four initiatives in pursuit of this strategic goal.
8 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

2.1 Expand market knowledge and oversight capabilities to identify, understand, 

analyze, and respond effectively to market developments and risks.

As technological advancements and commercial developments have changed how 

our securities markets operate and spurred the development of new products, the 

SEC's ability to remain an effective regulator requires that we continually monitor 

the market environment—and adapt. We should expand our focus, expertise, and, 

as necessary, our scope of operations in vital areas such as market monitoring 

analysis, market operations, including clearing and settlement, and electronic 

trading across our equity, fixed-income, and other markets. 

2.2 Identify, and take steps to address, existing SEC rules and approaches that 

are outdated.

Effective rulemaking does not end with rule adoption. In today’s global and rapidly 

changing markets, it is important for the SEC to continually analyze and seek 

feedback from investors and others about where rules are, or are not, functioning 

as intended. Through this initiative, the SEC will improve and bring greater 

involvement in, and acceptance of, our rulemaking efforts. 

2.3 Examine strategies to address cyber and other system and infrastructure 

risks faced by our capital markets and our market participants.

Data collection, storage, analysis, availability, and protection are fundamental to 

our capital markets, the individuals and entities that participate in those markets, 

and the SEC. The scope and severity of risks that cyber threats present have 

increased dramatically, and vigilance is required to protect against intrusions and 

disruptions. Consistent with our legal authority, the SEC will focus on ensuring that 

the market participants we regulate are actively and effectively engaged in managing 

cybersecurity risks and that these participants and the public companies we oversee 

are appropriately informing investors and other market participants of these risks 

and incidents. 

2.4 Promote agency preparedness and emergency response capabilities.

The SEC will review and update, as necessary, our preparedness and capabilities for 

responding to a market emergency or incident that impacts agency operations. The 

SEC will provide regular training and testing to promote a clear understanding of 

roles and responsibilities at the SEC, and will review and test our plans periodically 

to evaluate our preparedness as risks evolve.
FY 2018–FY 2022 STRATEGIC PLAN | 9

GOAL 3. Elevate the SEC’s performance by enhancing 

our analytical capabilities and human capital 

development.

Because of the breadth of our mission, the SEC’s success depends on using resources wisely 

and adapting our operational focus to meet constantly changing and evolving risks. The 

experience, knowledge, creativity, leadership, and teamwork of the SEC’s staff and its leaders 

are the foundation of the agency. The SEC will strengthen our human capital management 

program to facilitate our ability to attract and retain talent, especially in high-demand, highskill areas. Within our workforce, we will seek to develop future leaders, foster high-levels of 

employee engagement, and provide continuous learning and development.

The SEC also must innovate to stretch our resources further for the benefit of our mission. 

Most notably, the SEC must find ways to use data and technology to uncover risks to the 

markets and investors, as well as to conduct activities more efficiently. With the increased 

use of data comes risk and the practical risk mitigation imperative to collect only what we 

need to advance our mission, and institute proper procedures for protection of that data. 

The SEC has identified five initiatives in pursuit of this strategic goal.

3.1 Focus on the SEC’s workforce to increase our capabilities, leverage our shared 

commitment to investors, and promote diversity, inclusion, and equality of 

opportunity among the agency’s staff.

The SEC’s success is dependent on an effective, highly-skilled workforce. We will 

focus on recruiting, retaining, and training staff with the right mix of skills and 

expertise. We will also promote diversity, awareness, inclusion, and mutual respect 

within our workforce so that every staff member has an equal opportunity to 

contribute and succeed. 

3.2 Expand the use of risk and data analytics to inform how we set regulatory 

priorities and focus staff resources, including developing a data management 

program that treats data as an SEC-wide resource with appropriate data 

protections, enabling rigorous analysis at reduced cost.

In today’s fast-paced, data-driven markets, it is imperative the SEC be able to 

leverage data analytics to allocate our resources most effectively in furtherance of our 

mission. At the same time, it is also imperative that the SEC have data management 

practices that appropriately reflect the sensitivity of that data. Under this initiative, 
10 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

the agency will advance our risk analytics and data management programs. Working 

collaboratively across the SEC’s divisions and offices, we will invest in needed data 

streams, deploy new technological tools, where appropriate, and improve our enterprise 

data management practices and infrastructure. 

3.3 Enhance our analytics of market and industry data to prevent, detect, and 

prosecute improper behavior.

Data analytics are essential to rooting out wrongdoing in our markets. The 

SEC will continue to invest in the data and tools needed for our enforcement and 

examination programs to uncover and prosecute violations of the federal securities laws. 

3.4 Enhance the agency’s internal control and risk management capabilities, 

including developing a robust and resilient program for dealing with 

threats to the security, integrity, and availability of the SEC’s systems and 

sensitive data. 

The SEC will strengthen our cybersecurity program and promote the resiliency and 

security of our network, systems, and sensitive data. The SEC will expand and 

strengthen our internal enterprise risk capabilities, including through the establishment 

of a new Chief Risk Officer position to lead and coordinate the agency’s various risk 

management efforts. 

3.5 Promote collaboration within and across SEC offices to ensure we are 

communicating effectively across the agency, including through evaluation of 

key internal processes that require significant collaboration.

Effective and efficient partnership of staff across the agency is critical to our ability to 

carry out our mission. Under this initiative, the SEC will explore new ways to promote 

effective collaboration and information sharing across the agency, and will review the 

collaborations connected to the SEC’s major functional areas, such as examination of 

registered entities for compliance with our rules, investigating potential violations of 

our rules, and writing and proposing new rules. 
FY 2018–FY 2022 STRATEGIC PLAN | 11

How This Plan Was Developed 

In developing the Strategic Plan, the SEC took into account the information gleaned from 

meetings with the many external parties with which the agency interacts on a regular 

basis, including members of Congress and congressional committees, investors, businesses, 

financial market participants, academics, and other experts and stakeholders. This includes 

formal outreach efforts through the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee, Advisory 

Committee on Small and Emerging Companies, and Fixed Income Market Structure 

Advisory Committee; Commission-sponsored roundtables focused on specific issues; the 

agency’s Annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation; the 

SEC’s annual conference with the North American Securities Administrators Association; 

and solicitations of public comments on Commission rule proposals and strategic plans. 

The SEC values independent, high-quality assessments of our performance against our goals 

and desired strategic objectives. Such assessments help measure our progress so we can 

take action, as needed, to refine our programs or allocate resources accordingly. Various 

audits, studies, and evaluations of SEC programs and securities industry-related issues have 

been completed since the release of the agency’s previous Strategic Plan, and these have 

served as important resources in the development of this Strategic Plan. In particular, the 

SEC considered the findings from recent independent audits of the agency’s performance 

conducted by the Government Accountability Office and the SEC’s Office of Inspector 

General.

1

 The SEC also considered the results of internal assessments and evaluations of the 

agency’s performance, including those reported in the agency’s Annual Performance Report.

2

In the coming years, the SEC will continue to draw on evaluations from a variety of sources 

to improve our programs.

While the initiatives outlined in this Strategic Plan are intended to address our top priorities 

over the next four years, it must be mentioned that there are, of course, risks to, and 

limitations on, our ability to achieve our strategic goals. Some of these risks and limitations 

are operational in nature, such as those pertaining to key technology systems or oversight 

1 For more information, see GAO.gov and SEC.gov/oig

2 The SEC's most recent Annual Performance Report is available at SEC.gov/reports
12 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

of outside vendors who support SEC programs, and other risks that result from external 

sources, such as new forms of fraud, evolution of financial products, or changes to funding 

levels and the availability of qualified personnel. Accordingly, the SEC continues to build our 

enterprise risk management program, supported by representatives from SEC divisions and 

offices, to strengthen our ability to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks to attaining 

our mission. We also are committed to developing and strengthening our human capital.

We firmly believe that the SEC’s continued commitment to enterprise risk management and 

human capital management will strengthen our ability to achieve the ambitious goals set 

forth in this Plan. 
U.S. Securities and 

Exchange Commission

100 F Street NE 

Washington, DC 20549

SEC.gov