Arthur Levitt papers, 1948-2007
Summary Information
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#0774
- Bib ID:
- 4079912 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Levitt, Arthur, 1931-
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 30 linear feet (62 boxes 1 oversize box)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
-
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Description
Summary
Correspondence, speeches, speech materials, news clippings, subject files, audio and videotapes relating to the professional activity of Arthur Levitt, Jr. The papers and audiovisual material deal primarily with his tenure as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1993-2001), but also contain earlier records, including some materials relating to Levitt's school years at the Polytechnic Preparatory Country Day School and at Williams College, and his work at Hayden Stone, the American Stock Exchange, and the New York Economic Development Corporation, and his advocacy of the National Endowment of the Arts during the 1991-1992 funding controversy. These papers also contain materials relating to his father, Arthur Levitt, Sr., who served for 24 years as New York State Comptroller.
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Series I: Cataloged Correspondence
Original letters to Levitt from US congressmen and US and foreign government members.
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Series IV: Speeches Background Material
Printed materials, speeches by others with associated correspondence, notes and drafts relating to specific subjects and to public speaking in general.
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Series V: Biographical & Articles About Levitt
Contains materials from Levitt's school years, pre-sec employment,TV appearances, honors.
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Series VII: Arthur Levitt Sr. Papers
Papers relating to father, NY State Comptroller Arthur Levitt Sr. See Audiovisual - Photos and Audio subseries for audiovisual materials related to A. Levitt Sr.
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Series VIII: Audiovisual Records
Series consists of 127 VHS tapes and 9 Audiotapes. Arranged Chronologically. Duplicate tapes are at the end of the series
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These materials were part of additions, donated by A. Levitt in 2002 and 2014.
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All files in this series were part of additions, donated by A. Levitt in 2002. Original titles. General SEC subject files are followed by subseries arranged alphabetically by office of origin or subject.
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Arthur Levitt strongly advocated continued public funding for NEA without content restriction. Files arranged chronologically by starting date.
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Series XIII: SEC Correspondents Index
This index desribes Arranged Correspondence - SEC Photocopies subseries
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into 13 series.
- Series I: Cataloged Correspondence
- Series II: Arranged Correspondence
- Subseries II.1: Originals
- Subseries II.2: Congressional photocopies.
- Subseries II.3: SEC Copy Correspondence
- Series III: Speeches and Testimonies
- Subseries III.1: SEC Speeches
- Subseries III.2: Congressional Testimonies
- Subseries III.3: Pre-SEC
- Subseries III.4: Post-SEC
- Series IV: Speeches Background Material
- Subseries IV.1: Individual Speakers' files
- Subseries IV.2: Various speakers
- Subseries IV.3: Drafts and Background Information
- Series V: Biographical & Articles About Levitt
- Series VI: Printed Materials
- Series VII: Arthur Levitt Sr. Papers
- Series VIII: Audiovisual Records
- Series IX: Digital Materials
- Series X: SEC Work Files
- Subseris X.1: General
- Subseris X.2: Auditors' Independence
- Subseris X.3: Division of Corporate Finance
- Subseris X.4: Division of Enforcement
- Subseris X.5: Division of Investment Management
- Subseris X.6: Division of Market Regulation
- Subseris X.7: International Accounting Standards Committee
- Subseris X.8: Office of Chief Accountant
- Subseris X.9: Office of Compliance, Inspection and Examination
- Subseris X.10: Office of General Council
- Subseris X.11: Office of Investor Education and Assistance
- Subseris X.12: Office of Municipal Securities
- Series XI: NEA Controversy
- Series XII: Oversized Documents
- Series XIII: SEC Correspondents Index
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Arthur Levitt papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Papers: Source of acquisition--U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--02/26/2001. Accession number--M-01-02-26.
Gift of Hilda Harding of the Securities and Exchange Commission, 2001. Accessioned by Patrick Lawlor on Feb. 26, 2001. Addition donated by Arthur Levitt Jr., accessioned by Patrick Lawlor on Aug. 29,2002 (accession no. 2002/2003-05)
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Papers Processed JG/HR 07/12/2002. First installment (22 linear feet in 34 boxes) was processed by Jane Gorjevsky, Summer 2002. The additions were processed and integrated into the collection by Jane Gorjevsky, Spring 2003.
Revision Description
2010-02-16 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Biographical / Historical
Levitt, the 25th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was first appointed by President Clinton in July of 1993 and reappointed to a second five-year term in May of 1998. The longest serving Chairman in the history of the Commission, Arthur Levitt retired from the SEC on Feb. 9th 2001.
The SEC is an independant, nonpartisan, quasijudicial regulatory agency with responsibility for administering the federal securities laws. The purpose of these laws is to protect investors in securities markets that operate fairly and to ensure that investors have access to disclosure of all material information concerning publicly traded securities. The Commission also regulates firms engaged in the purchase or sale of securities, people who provide investment advice, and investment companies. Five Commissioners sit on the SEC with one designated as chairman by the President of the United States.
Key successes of Levitt's first term include reforming the debt markets, improving broker sales and pay practices, promoting the use of plain English in investment literature as well as in SEC communications with the public, preserving the independence of the private sector standard setting process, ensuring the independence of accountants, and encouraging foreign companies to list on U.S. markets.
During Chairman Levitt's tenure, the SEC established the Office of Investor Education and Assistance and created the SEC's World Wide Web site, one of the most popular on the internet, which allows the SEC to make all corporate filings available to the public free of charge. Chairman Levitt has been supportive of high-tech and online securities trading. He supported passage of both the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act in 1998 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in the 104th Congress. These bills are designed to reduce the number of frivolous class action lawsuits brought primarily against high tech companies in the computer, internet, and biotech industries.
Chairman Levitt has also sought to raise the industry's sales prectice standards and eliminate the conflicts of interest in how brokers are compensated. During his tenure at the SEC, Levitt worked to protect the interests of the individual investor, which manifested itself most clearly in the passage of Regulation FD. Regulation FD, which went into effect in October 2000, mandates that public companies must broadly disseminate material non-public information simultaneously to all investors. In the wake of Regulation FD, webcasting of company conference calls and other investment events has emerged as one of the most efficient and effective ways companies can help immunize themselves against potential selective disclosure issues.
The SEC has worked to sever ties between political campaign contributions and minicipal underwriting business, a practice known as pay-to-play, as well as improving the disclosure and transparency of the municipal bond market. Chairman Levitt tried to introduce rules barring CPA firms from providing consulting services to their audit clients, believing that consulting feed offer an unhealthy temptation to professional services firms that conduct certified audits. Levitt's initiatives were ment with a determined lobbying effort by the accounting industry. Eventually Levitt was forced to water down his proposals and he accepted a requirement that made companies disclose the dollar amount of the audit and consulting fees that they pay.
The Commission, together with the industry, has developed the Profile Prospectus and other plain English guidelines for investment products in an effort to make disclosure documents easier to understand without compromising the value of the information provided to investors.
Before joining the Commission, Mr Levitt owned Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill. From 1989 to 1993, he served as the Chairman of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. And from 1978 to 1989, he was the Chairman of the American Stock Exchange. Prior to joining the American Stock Exchange, Mr Levitt worked on Wall Street for 16 years, serving as a president for Carter Berlind & Weill and Shearson Hayden Stone, Inc. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College in 1952 before serving for two years in the Air Force.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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