As part of the 2003 global analyst research settlement, the settling firms committed to purchase independent third-party research for their customers for five years, and an $80 million Investor Education Fund was established to support nationwide investor-education programs.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by SEC official press releases (primary source) and corroborated by multiple independent secondary sources including law firm analyses and Wikipedia summary. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=unverified indep_score=0.3 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable] [rescored 2026-09-15: curated origin-host map (PR #65); unclassified hosts no longer scored as aggregators]
Sources
- Speech by SEC Chairman: Prepared for Delivery at SEC Press Conference Regarding Global Settlement (seed:economics_and_business)
- https://www.faegredrinker.com/en/insights/publications/2003/6/the-global-settlement-of-research-conflicts-of-interestback-to-the-future-for-the-research-analyst (corroboration)
- https://www.cooley.com/news/insight/2010/modifications-to-global-research-analyst-settlement (corroboration)