Abstract

The two main U.S. securities laws- The Securities Act of 1933 and The Securities and Exchange Act of 1934-- require companies selling (issuing) their securities to the public to disclose information about the securities issuing company so that the public has the information it needs to decide whether to purchase the issuer#x2019;s securities and how much the purchaser is willing to pay. Selling securities such as stocks and bonds and other instruments is how companies raise the monies they need to fund their ideas, traditionally almost always business ideas but not necessarily so, and operations in furtherance thereof. This paper proposes how the current securities laws#x2019; financial reporting and outside independent audit requirements can, without any action to change the statutes as they now exist, be used to promote economic fairness, social justice, and other social reforms..