The responsibility of the SEC is to ____________ and ____________ federal securities laws, issue new and amend existing rules, oversee the inspection of securities firms, oversee private regulatory organizations, and coordinate regulations with federal, state, and foreign authorities.

• A. Interpret, Enforce
• B. Initialize, Revise
• C. Audit, Edit
• D. Oversee, Govern

Answer: (A)

The work described is about applying the law: the SEC interprets federal securities laws to clarify how they apply to markets, issuers, brokers, and investors, and it enforces those laws by pursuing investigations and enforcement actions with appropriate penalties. This combination—clearing up how the laws should be understood and then actively upholding them in practice—captures the agency’s core role in making sure the securities framework operates fairly and effectively. The other pairings don’t fit that function: they use terms that aren’t standard descriptors of the SEC’s mandate, or imply actions (like initializing or auditing) that aren’t the primary ways the SEC describes its authority alongside interpreting and enforcing the laws.