Often, there are quotes, spellings, symbols, events, or experiences that many of us “know” occurred, but which did not actually happen. This phenomenon is known as the “Mandela Effect,” or “collective false memory.” Its name derives from the false recollection of many people that Nelson Mandela died in the 1980s in prison when, in fact, he lived until 2013. One example of such a false memory is the iconic quote, “Luke, I am your father,” which Darth Vader proclaimed to his son, Luke Skywalker, in the 1980 classic film “Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back.” However, that line was never uttered. The correct quote is, “No. I am your father.”
To be clear, we don’t think the securities regulators have false collective memories—other than, possibly, believing this line: “It’s easy for you to produce that information to us. You can just push a button.” And we don’t think the securities industry has such false memories either—other than possibly believing that the SEC sanctioned firms for using the word “may.” (Wait. That really did happen. ) Nonetheless, we thought it would be fun to explore this phenomenon and see how it fits with enforcement matters. After all, it’s important to examine ourselves and our surroundings to better understand what happened and why.