And by the SEC, yet, which already has its extra-judicial structure of accuser, judge, punisher administrative law judge system in the Federal courts over the legitimacy of such an arrangement.

Now it’s the SEC-proposed rule that would require private enterprises—which by definition are outside the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission—to open their books to public scrutiny and SEC approval.

Worse, a broad range of elites are supporting this naked overreach:

University endowments, insurance funds, and retirement funds serving teachers and firefighters are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to move forward with a proposed rule that would ensure private-fund investors receive annual audits and quarterly statements.

Such a move would destroy the private nature and purpose of private enterprises—i.e., enterprises that are wholly owned by a small group of entity operators and which do not sell ownership shares on the open market or permit the owners’ own equity portions to be traded about on open markets.

But the rule-supporting elites give their game away:

Many pension plans are having a hard time meeting their payout obligations to members, the result of decades of underfunding, benefit overpromises, and unrealistic demands from unions.

So they want to get into private entities, even though those entities do not want the elites’ involvement—it’s part of why they’re, you know, private. But in order to do so, those private companies must open their books to the SEC—and the public.

It’s a bad rule, and it should be withdrawn by a serious SEC or blocked outright by Congress. This is a free market matter: if an investor doesn’t like the information he gets—doesn’t get—when he looks into a company with a view to investing, he’s free to not invest.

Full stop.