By Rachel Gabel | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE
The Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule allowing for Natural Asset Companies to be traded on the NYSE is reckless and politically motivated, exactly the opposite of the purpose of the SEC. The management of public lands ought not be for sale.
The SEC was created by Congress to ensure transparency, fair prices for trading, and a high degree of liquidity for traders following the 1929 Stock Market crash. The creation of NACs will harm the economy, especially in rural areas. The SEC has no authority to peddle the management of public lands.
According to the proposed rule filing, NACs will be corporations that hold the rights to the ecological performance (i.e., the value of natural assets and production of ecosystem services) produced by natural or working areas, such as national reserves or large-scale farmlands, and have the authority to manage the areas for conservation, restoration, or sustainable management. These rights can be licensed like other rights, including “run with the land” rights (such as mineral rights, water rights, or air rights), and NACs are expected to license these rights from sovereign nations or private landowners.