By Anna Fridman (October 15, 2018, 2:39 PM EDT) -- Almost a century has passed since Black Monday, Oct. 29, 1929, when the world experienced the most memorable stock market crash. To this day, analysis of the so-called "Great Crash" is a source of frequent academic debate, from the causes to the aftermath to whether something could have been done to mitigate the severity of the impact. One consistent theme that threaded through many opinions was the public loss of faith in the equity markets. The loss of confidence was separate from the deficiencies in the underlying economic fundamentals. Market participants lost confidence in issuer reporting accuracy, transparency and level of public disclosure of information. Since federal controls on the issuing and trading of securities were virtually nonexistent at the time, the possibility of fraud and other schemes likely contributed to acceleration of panic. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was born out of the crisis in an effort to stabilize the markets. Instituting a clear and balanced framework and injecting more clarity, certainty and transparency to the markets proved to be a useful tool in regaining investor confidence in the integrity of the equity markets....