Directors of public companies have one more duty to add to their list: gatekeeping. According to Lou Mejia of Perkins Coie, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White recently put directors on notice that they have the responsibility to protect investors and are relied on to do so by the SEC.

“White described directors as the SEC’s ‘partners’ in preventing, detecting and stopping violations of the federal securities law,” said Mejia.