DAVID RATNER WAS INTERVIEWED BY MATTHEW O'TOOLE AND RICHARD PHILLIPS OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON AUGUST 6, 2002
Mr. Ratner was executive assistant to chairman Manny Cohen from September 1966 to July 1968
THIS IS A MEMORIAL WEBSITE. THE SECTION QUOTED BELOW IS TAKEN VERBATIM from The Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society. PLEASE VISIT THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. IT IS A VERY GREAT SORROW FOR THE REMAINING FAMILY OF RAY GARRETT THAT HE IS NOT ALIVE TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE INTERVIEWS. AS A LOVER OF HISTORY (HIS MAJOR AT YALE), HE WOULD HAVE ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORTED THE FOUNDING OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND PARTICIPATED WHOLEHEARTEDLY IN HIS OWN INTERVIEW.

p. 28
"Well, sometime in 1967, a delegation came to call on Manny, consisting of Milton Cohen, Ray Garrett, who was a big figure in the American Law Institute and, of course, who later became chairman of the Commission in 1973, and Louis Loss, a professor at Harvard Law School who was the author of the major treatise on securities law."

p. 45
"Nixon, attempting to salvage the SEC's reputation [after Brad Cook was forced to resign in disgrace] appointed Ray Garrett as chairman and Al Sommer as a member of the Commission in 1973, joining Irv Pollack, Phil Loomis, and John Evans, who'd come from the staff of the Senate Banking Committee. I've always thought that that Commission from -73 to -75 was may be one of the best assemblages of people ever to run the SEC. There were five people of great integrity, intelligence, really dedicated. You couldn't ask for better people to run the Commission."

p. 46
"I also wound up doing a number of CLE [Continuing Legal Education] programs, including one that I was asked to organize in 1973 at Haverford, Pennsylvania. Dick, you were on the fourth week of that, I think, dealing with investment companies. A four-week program on federal securities law. Nobody ever tried that before or again. It was much too long, but, anyway, we did it. As luck would have it, the first week of the program was on disclosure, and two of the people I had on the panel were Ray Garrett and Al Sommer. It was while they were at Haverford participating in this program that their appointments as chairman and a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission were announced. That was great timing."

* Read the entire Interview

back