Chairman Christopher Cox, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Thank you, Bill [Lutz, Board Member of the Center for Plain Language], for that generous introduction. You’ve had an exciting day here thus far, and I'm very pleased to be included in your program.
I'll get right to the point, because after all, this is a plain language conference. I've been asked to “discuss the need for plain language in promoting transparency.” Well, the need is rather obvious. If the promoters of something called a "plain language" conference can't think of a better word than "transparency," we all need help. I think the basic idea is to make things clear. So right off the bat, I'm going to chuck out the $10 Latinized words with four or more syllables, if there is a good old Anglo-Saxon one with just one or two syllables that's handy.
Disclosures intended for retail investors should be concise and clearly written. In prospectus and proxy writing as in other areas of life, it's usually the case that the more profound something is, the fewer words it takes to say it. The most important thing I ever said was just four words — and my own wife beat that record by a mile. I said, "Will you marry me?" and she said, "Yes."
See full Speech.
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