The stock market crash of 1929 devastated theAmerican economy and produced the GreatDepression. Between September 1929 and July1932, stocks lost 83% of their value, prompting theSenate Banking and Currency Committee toconduct a series of hearings on the causes of thecrash. These hearings revealed deep problems withhow stocks were being sold to investors.

1929年的股市大崩盘摧毁了美国经济，导致美国进入大萧条时期。1929年9月至1932年7月间，股市市值缩水83%，迫使参议院银行和货币委员会进行了一系列的听证会，以查明股市大崩盘的原因。听证会深层次揭露了在售向投资者销售股票时存在的问题。

 

At that time, it was basically the responsibility of the investor to determine whether acompany was telling the truth about its stock before investing. Many stocks were sold that werenot worth their price, and millions of people lost their fortunes in the crash. To bring order outof the chaos, Congress passed three major acts creating the Securities and ExchangeCommission in 1934 and defining its responsibilities.

 

那时，在投资前判断企业提供的信息是否属实，责任基本在投资者。许多股票在出售时并不值当时的价钱，上百万人在这次灾难中失去了财富。为了在混乱中维持秩序，国会通过了三条主要的法案。1934年国会成立了证券交易委员会，并定义了它的职责。

The SEC works to monitor the stock market industry and to protect investors. Since itscreation, companies that offer their stock for sale to the public are required by federal law totell the truth about their businesses. Without an oversight body like the SEC giving investorssome basic confidence in the system, today's stock market simply couldn't exist. Corporateirregularities are not always caught as quickly as they should be, but the overall structuresdesigned by Congress have helped to make America's stock markets among the safest in theworld.

证券交易委员会的职责是监控股票交易机构，保护投资者的权利。自从它成立以来，上市公司需按照联邦法律的要求，向公众出售股票时诚实交代自己的业务。要是没有像证券交易委员会这样的监督机构，也许今天根本不会有股市存在。虽然并不总是能及时查获企业违规现象，但国会制定的总体监管结构已将美国股市变成世界上最安全的股市之一。