What are the federal securities laws?

In the 1920s many companies issued, and stock brokers promoted, stocks and bonds on the basis of glittering promises of fantastic profits without disclosing meaningful information to investors. The stock market kept on going up and up until the wave of speculative euphoria ended with the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed.

In an effort to curb future excesses, and provide full and fair disclosure to investors, Congress enacted the Federal Securities laws and created the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to administer them.

The primary Federal Securities laws are the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("Investment Company Act"), and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers Act").