Regulatory Agencies
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission — SEC | www.sec.gov
The Securities and Exchange Commission enforces laws and rules to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. For example, the SEC requires public companies to disclose meaningful information to the public to provide a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use, so they are able to judge for themselves whether to buy, sell, or hold a particular security. This is where our firm is actively involved with the SEC. Our firm assists small public companies with the preparation of documents to be filed with the SEC.
Financial Industry Regulatory Agency — FINRA | www.finra.org
Financial Industry Regulatory Agency is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA deals with virtually every aspect of the securities-from registering and educating industry participants to examining securities firms; writing rules; enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities; and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms. It also performs market regulation under contract for The NASDAQ Stock Market, the American Stock Exchange, the International Securities Exchange and the Chicago Climate Exchange.
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board — PCAOB | www.pcaobus.org
The PCAOB is a private-sector, non-profit corporation created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to oversee the auditors of public companies in order to protect the interest of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, fair, and independent audit reports.
State Securities Regulators | www.nasaa.org/QuickLinks/ContactYourRegulator.cfm
While the SEC regulates and enforces the federal securities laws, each state has its own securities laws, known as the "blue sky laws". Further, each state has its own securities regulator who administers the state securities laws. The state securities laws include the regulation of the offer and sale of securities as well as the registration and reporting requirements of securities in the state. Those laws cover many of the same activities the SEC regulates, such as the sale of securities and those who sell them, but are confined to securities sold or persons who sell them within each state.
