SEC Studying TV Analysts’ Disclosure

The Securities and Exchange Commission is exploring ways to get analysts such as Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s Abby Joseph Cohen and Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Henry Blodget to disclose possible conflicts of interest when they recommend stocks during television appearances.

The SEC is privately asking financial TV programs and networks such as CNBC and CNNfn for their views on how potential analyst conflicts can be disclosed “in a meaningful but unobtrusive manner” on the air, SEC spokesman Chris Ullman said.

The possible conflicts that concern the SEC involve analysts’ personal investments in stocks they recommend, and their employers’ investment banking work for firms reviewed by the analysts, he said.

The SEC plans to funnel broadcasters’ comments to the National Assn. of Securities Dealers and New York Stock Exchange, which are considering whether to propose disclosure guidelines or toughen policing of existing standards, Ullman said.

The SEC is running into early resistance from TV executives.

“The SEC, with the best of intentions, is doing something that could be very, very Big Brother-ish down the road,” said Neil Cavuto, anchor of the “Your World” business news show on News Corp.’s Fox News Channel. “I don’t think the SEC belongs in newsrooms.”