This is as an easy mistake to make.  I say so because I’ve made it more than once.  The name of the landmark Depression era legislation regulating our national securities markets is the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; the name of the regulator is the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Compare Sections 1 and 4 of 48 Stat. 881.

The California legislature also conflates the two names.  In four different statutes, it refers to the “Securities Exchange Commission”, which is eerily reminiscent of Charles Ponzi’s Securities Exchange Company.  See Cal. Corp. Code §§ 1502.1 & 2117.1, Fin. Code § 5613, and Ins. Code § 1192.  Conversely, the legislature added “and” to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in Corporations Code Section 31115.

The legislature doesn’t err without good company.  The California Supreme Court has on at least two occasions cited the “Securities and Exchange Act of 1934″.  Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. v. Superior Court, 19 Cal.4th 1036 (1999) and Jones v. H.F. Ahmanson & Co., 1 Cal.3d 93 (1969).  Dissenting in Diamond Multimedia Systems, Justice Brown referred to the “Securities Exchange Commission”.