High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Securities commission is a general term used for a government department or agency responsible for financial regulation of financial products within a particular country. Its powers and responsibilities vary greatly from country to country, but generally cover the setting of rules as well as enforcing them for financial intermediaries. As long as there have been securities there have regulations. However, in the early days this consisted primarily of self-regulated groups or societies. External government regulation has primarily been driven by financial crises or scandals.