The Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation of Public Utility Holding Companies: An Evaluation of Commission Comments on a Critical Report

A June 1977 report "The Force of the Public Utility Holding Company Act Has Been Greatly Reduced by Changes in the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Enforcement Policies" raised questions concerning SEC surveillance of 14 regulated public utility holding companies. The report noted that SEC was not conducting the type of field investigations necessary to ensure that the companies were complying with constraints imposed by the act and questioned the SEC policy of exempting companies from the full force of the act. The report was issued without SEC comments.