Federal Securities Act

Securities Act of 1933 Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act,” the "Truth in Securities Act" or the "Federal Securities Act") 48 Stat. 74 (May 27, 1933), codified at et seq., in the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929 and during the ensuing Great Depression. 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). When Congress enacted the 1933 Act, it left in place the patchwork of existing state securities laws to supplement federal laws in part because there were questions as to the constitutionality of federal legislation.
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