Securities ACT

The Securities Act generally requires companies to give full disclosure of all material facts. The Securities Act was enacted in 1933 following the stock market crash of 1929.It is often referred to as the 1933 Act, the ’33 Act, or the Securities Act. Legislated pursuant to the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, it requires that any offer or sale of securities using the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce be registered pursuant to the 1933 Act, unless an exemption from registration exists under the law. It was the first major federal legislation to regulate the offer and sale of securities. Prior to that time, regulation of securities was chiefly governed by state laws (commonly referred to as “blue sky laws”).