Regulatory Reform Redux: Corporate Governance and the New York Stock Exchange

On December 17, 2003 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved an overhaul of the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE’s) system of corporate governance. After questions arose concerning the NYSE’s ability to discharge its self‐regulatory functions following the resignation of former Chairman and CEO Richard Grasso, Interim Chairman John Reed proposed new governance architecture including a newly independent Board of Directors and a separate Board of Executives designed to represent the NYSE’s various constituencies. The new architecture reflects an effort to strike a balance between an independent board of directors and the desire for input from the industry, i.e., self‐regulation. This new structure should not be seen as the SEC’s determination of the future of self‐regulation, but simply as the most recent step in refining and improving the self‐regulatory process at the NYSE and other marketplaces as well.