A new U.S. Uniform Securities Act was approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws at its 11th annual meeting, just concluded in Tucson, Ariz.

The act encourages maximum cooperation among the U.S. states and coordination with federal regulators.

Apart from the federal oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission, every state has an agency that enforces its securities laws; most have adopted some version of the prior Uniform Securities Act.

State securities administrators have broad powers to protect investors by regulating securities sold within their states and those who sell them, and to investigate, sanction, and prosecute individuals and firms that violate the law. This function is crucial to promote the integrity of the financial markets and the formation of capital.

“We believe that the enactment of the Uniform Securities Act by the states would be especially timely in this post-Enron environment,” said King Burnett, president of NCCUSL.

Joe Borg, Alabama Securities director and current president of the North American Securities Administrators Association said, “NASAA’s project group is confident this new act modernizes the uniform law and provides state securities regulators with all of the old tools and many new tools to do our job and protect America’s investors.”

In Canada, provincial regulators are working on a Uniform Securities Law project, too, as an alternative to a national securities commission. The work is being led by Alberta Securities Commission chair, Stephen Sibold. The regulators hope to have a uniform act in place by the end of 2003.