Arthur Levitt Quotes (52 Quotes)

Our purpose, as we face these challenges, remains clear - fair and orderly markets that allow for efficient capital formation, while protecting the interests of investors.

Sandy reacted to his times, and Chuck Prince is going to have to determine what his times are and how he should deal with that era.

Decimal trading will benefit investors by allowing greater competition and making it easier to compare prices, ... It will also bring about consistency with foreign markets, which now trade in decimals. We look forward to working with the industry to ensure that the transition to decimals goes smoothly.

It has been almost 30 years since significant steps were taken to improve the mutual fund governance structure, ... Whether shareholders realize it or not, how directors fulfill their responsibilities directly affects them every day.

One way for investors to protect themselves from a rapid change in the price of a stock is to use a limit order rather than a market order.

Over the past two decades, we have clearly seen an erosion of ethical values.

Our collective challenge at this time is to ensure that competition in all its forms continues to define the structure of our markets.

I think that the failures of Enron and WorldCom and other companies are partially failures of investors to recognize companies that are selling for a thousand times nothing, but chances are they may be worth only that.

he said. ''I would hope the decision would be reversed upon appeal.

I worry the best execution may be compromised by payment for order flow, internalization, and certain other practices that can present conflicts between the interests of brokers and their customers.

We have an opportunity now that I don't think we'll have again in our lifetime to come closer to the vision of a national market system that, in my judgment, has been too long delayed.

How many times have we seen an analyst on television being asked to list his top five picks And how many times has that analyst taken the opportunity to caution viewers, 'By the way, my employer recently underwrote three of these stocks'

It is incumbent on us to facilitate the development of a market structure that best assures that these changes benefit the U.S. securities markets as a whole.

We have an opportunity today that we may not have again in our lifetime, to realize the vision for a true national market system,

Firms need to ensure that their ability to provide effective customer service keeps pace with their growth. If you're marketing your firm to new customers, you better be able to provide them service when they do business with you.

We all understand that directors aren't required to guarantee that their fund has the lowest fees, ... But they are required to ask whether fund investors are getting their money's worth. What do independent directors know about management's costs and their profitability

That also has put pressure on analysts to report favorably on a company in order to maintain access to inside information,

The American economy is the eighth wonder of the world. The ninth is the economic ignorance of the American people.

In the celebration of today's prosperity, I'm concerned that some of the basic but important fundamentals of investing are being lost on investors, or, even worse, being ignored, ... Unless investors truly understand both the opportunities and the risks of today's market, too many may fall victim to their own wishful thinking.

This is the best hope that the investor community has today, ... This is the first time that a group made up of this type of individuals has come out for expensing stock options and curbs on the excessive compensation executives have been receiving.

Another misconception is that an order is canceled when you hit 'cancel' on your computer. But, the fact is it's canceled only when the market gets the cancellation.

Our markets have not achieved their great successes as a result of government fiat, but rather through efforts of competing interests working to meet the demands of investors and to fulfill the promises posed by advancing technology.

While fund performance is unpredictable, the impact of fees is not, ... A 1-percent annual fee will reduce an ending account balance by 17 percent after 20 years.

Today, the forces of competition, technology, and globalization have converged to spur innovation and to transform the way business is done in the securities industry.

The tension between centrality, on the one hand, and competition, on the other, is probably the oldest of all market structure issues.

This is bound to inflame investor passion. Evidently, Raymond did a first-rate job. Why do they want to hurt his legacy and his image by creating a compensation package that is so skewed and so unnecessary

A careful balance of 'bright-line' rules establishing clear limits, coupled with greater disclosure, seems both warranted and prudent,

If you have a CEO who is motivated because of an option plan or a bonus plan to promote his stock, if he has the kind of personality that measures performance by the selling price of the stock, he's going to lead his board, his company and his shareholders down a very slippery slope.

This is outrageous that just two months ago, a public offering was done. Major banking institutions simply were asleep at the switch. There was clearly wrongdoing here that neither the accountants nor the underwriters nor the principal owners had any idea of.

The motivation to satisfy Wall Street earnings expectations may be overriding common sense business practices, ... In the process, I fear, we are witnessing a gradual but inexorable erosion in the quality of financial reporting.

After Hank Greenberg has departed, investors wonder whether the company can carry on. They've got to hear that management is solid, picking up the ball from the departure of a very-involved CEO.

It is time for the U.S. securities market to make this change,

Now, we all understand that directors aren't required to guarantee that their fund has the lowest fees, ... But they are required to ask whether fund investors are getting their money's worth.

Encouraging competition to investment banking research should be on everyone's short list of common sense solutions to restore investor trust.

We are not looking for a bit of window dressing on the same old recycled gobbledygook, ... We expect you to do whatever it takes to speak to investors in a language they understand -- English.

The SEC is launching more investigations into more big companies than ever before, ... The list of targets includes plenty of Fortune 500 players, including Bankers Trust, Cendant, Waste Management and W. R. Grace.

But when that information travels only to a privileged few, when it is used to profit at the expense of the investing public, when that information comes by way of favored access rather than by acumen, insight or diligence, we must ask, 'Whose interest is

Investors should start with a view of skepticism. They should become intellectual investors rather than emotional investors. They should be careful, and they should be skeptical.

I've had my dream job. I have been able to work on issues that I have been deeply passionate about since I first began my career in the securities business nearly 38 years ago,

The best companies, the most solidly managed companies, are ones that are managed for the future that don't focus on the price of the shares.

These issues are not academic or peripheral -- they directly affect every mutual fund investor. ... One word above all must define a fund's overall management structure. That word is accountability. And, without strong independent directors, accountability is nothing more than words on a page.

Millions of new investors have taken advantage of the unprecedented access and individual control the Internet provides. But new opportunities present all of us with new responsibilities, challenges and risks.

I think we have got to start thinking about banding together in terms of interested groups.

While private equity will remain technically private, its actions will become the public's concern.

Our role is to maintain and monitor a framework in which fair competition can flourish.

What must occur is a greater recognition by investors of their individual responsibility.

From my own personal experience the best CEOs that I have ever known are the ones that don't care very much about the day-to-day fluctuations of their shares.

If you compensate a CEO by giving him options, he's going to do everything he can to make those options as valuable as possible.

Although the Internet makes it seem as if you have a direct connection to the securities market, you don't. Lines may clog; systems may break; orders may back-up.

Promoting the interaction of orders remains one of the most difficult, but crucially important, challenges we face concerning our national market system.