The new chairman of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox, has pledged to side with individual investors.

In a speech to SEC staff, Cox tried to dispel the notion that he is being brought into the SEC to roll back regulation. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Department of Commerce serves our country’s businesses. We are the investors’ advocate,” he said.

“If a business is investor friendly, the SEC will be friendly to it. But during my chairmanship, anyone who attempts to drive a wedge between the interests of their business and interests of investors in that business will find themselves confronted by a relentless and powerful adversary in the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he added.

Cox noted that his first meeting with commission staff was with Linda Thomsen, head of Enforcement at the SEC. “She and her entire Division will have my unstinting support,” he said.

He also argued that the interests of investors and the interests of business aren’t necessarily in conflict. “After all, if we’re talking about common stock holders, the investors own the business. If the business succeeds, so do they. And if the business fails, they do, too,” Cox noted. “The vast majority of businesses get it, and conduct themselves accordingly. We are concerned with the ones that don’t.”

Cox added that it’s individual investors that are particularly in need of its protection. “We have to re-dedicate ourselves to the mission of protecting the individual investor. It’s got to be in the DNA of every office and every division. Every last one of us.”

“This requires a conscious effort, and deliberate action. Because without it, the concerns of the individual investor will take a back seat to the legions of professional, well-financed special interests,” he said.

One of the ways Cox is looking to improve the lot of individual investors is with better disclosure. “The challenge of creating truly useful disclosure in the 21st century goes well beyond exhorting the use of everyday language, active voice, personal pronouns, and shorter sentences. It extends to the questions of what is disclosed, and why,” he explained. “We’ve got to continue to ask investors what they need — in order for them to decide whether to purchase an investment in the first place; and to decide whether to hold or sell.”