Category Archives: Securities
Explaining EDGAR Filings For New Market Participants
In order to comply with U.S. securities law, every publicly traded company must submit reports at regular intervals to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). For some, this amount of paperwork can be extensive – but it can be filed electronically, thanks to the EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval) system. For a… Read More »
Explaining Blue Sky Laws
In the 1920s, prior to the Great Depression, speculative investments were widespread. There was no real oversight of the securities market (the Securities & Exchange Commission did not come about until the mid-1930s) and as such, firms did not have to provide any kind of establishing information about their investments. This contributed significantly to… Read More »
Can Cannabis Companies Issue Securities?
Despite significant gains at the state level, marijuana is still illegal according to U.S. federal law (and Florida state law as well). Because of this, laws originally intended to prohibit potential money laundering create a steep ‘compliance burden’ for financial institutions, making it all but impossible for state-level cannabis facilities to get financing. One… Read More »
US Sues Two Major Cryptocurrency Exchanges Within 24 Hours
The battle between the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the cryptocurrency industry has raged for quite some time now, with the federal agency fighting hard to bring the industry under its aegis, and the industry stubbornly refusing oversight. In early June 2023, though, the SEC filed suit against two of the largest… Read More »
Rule 144, 101: Explaining The Most Common Securities Exception
There are several types of securities sold on the U.S. market, including restricted and control. Control (not ‘controlled’) securities are those held by an affiliate of the company, while restricted securities are most often offered to investors via private sales. Neither restricted nor control securities can be resold in the U.S. unless they are… Read More »
How To Spot Account Churning In Securities Law
Most people who are trusted to handle securities have what is known as a fiduciary duty to those on whose behalf they are operating. However, it is sadly not uncommon for some financial professionals to try and enrich their profiles at the expense of their clients. One common way this is done is via… Read More »
Do Cryptocurrencies Qualify As Securities?
Within the last five years or so, more and more U.S. residents have been investing money in what are known as cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Up until 2022, the industry was able to proceed with a minimum of regulations, but in 2023, the U.S. government is fighting back. In order to properly… Read More »
Can An Emoji Count As Financial Advice?
The world of securities and financial trading is constantly evolving, with its boundaries continually being tested and changed. In a recent New York class action lawsuit, a federal judge has ruled that in certain situations where they can only “objectively mean one thing,” emojis, of all things, can qualify as financial discourse. This, in… Read More »
Defending Against SEC Enforcement Action
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an agency with a very wide purview, overseeing all aspects of securities law from creation to sale. What many do not know is that the SEC also has law enforcement functions, and is able to initiate investigations into companies or individual investors suspected of securities violations. If… Read More »
What Are Digital Securities?
The average person tends to think of securities as highly complex financial instruments. However, several different day-to-day items have the potential to be classified as securities, including stamps, vouchers, and tokens, whether tangible or digital. Distinguishing which digital assets may qualify as securities is a crucial part of doing business in the online marketplace…. Read More »
