Securities laws are the laws and regulations governing financial instruments such as stocks, mutual funds, and bonds. These rules are designed in part to prevent fraud, insider training, and market manipulation, while also promoting transparency through a complex system of reporting and enforcement.
Securities Lawyers tackle legal issues associated with stocks, bonds and investments. Because securities is a sub-specialty within the business law domain, you handle cases for corporations and individual investors, as well as deal with government agencies.
Advising issuers and underwriters through a wide range of equity and debt financings, including start-up financing, mezzanine financing, public offerings and private placements. Structuring of corporate finance transactions. Advising on securities regulatory requirements for public offerings and private placements.
Securities law (or Capital Markets law) is the group of laws and regulations that govern the issuance of securities. A security is a financial instrument usually designed to raise money for a business from investors in the business.
Securities fraud is an illegal or unethical activity carried out involving securities or asset markets in order to profit at the expense of others. This type of fraud is a serious crime usually involving the investment world. Examples of securities fraud include Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, and late-day trading.
On the federal level, the primary securities regulator is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Futures and some aspects of derivatives are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Securities are fungible and tradable financial instruments used to raise capital in public and private markets. There are primarily three types of securities: equity—which provides ownership rights to holders; debt—essentially loans repaid with periodic payments; and hybrids—which combine aspects of debt and equity.
Some of the most common examples of securities include stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, and ETF shares. Securities have certain tax implications in the United States and are under tight government regulation.Mar 23, 2022
Most stocks are traded on exchanges, which are places where buyers and sellers meet and decide on a price. Some exchanges are physical locations where transactions are carried out on a trading floor.
We represent many public companies and companies seeking to access public markets in initial public offerings (IPOs) and/or the increasingly more common structures, alternative public offerings (APOs), direct public offerings (DPOs), special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), as well as debt or hybrid securities secondary offerings of equity.
The Securities Law Practice Group also has substantial experience with regard to real estate securities, real estate investment trusts and real estate-based securities. Duane Morris attorneys advise clients involved in listed and non-listed real estate securities.
The Securities Law Practice Group performs a wide range of complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, hostile and friendly tender offers, going private transactions, the conversion of mutual insurance companies, the formation of downstream holding companies for insurance companies, financial services securities matters, bank holding company matters and the conversion of savings and loan associations.
In the U.S., we assist in the preparation of periodic SEC reports, filings and advice in connection with insider transactions (including Section 16 and Section 10 (b) and Rule 10b-5), Regulation FD disclosure obligations, option and other equity-based compensation plans, spin-offs, going private transactions, tender offers, proxy contests, corporate restructurings, change in control and other transactional (M&A) events and assisting Audit, Compensation and Nomination Committees in complying with the requirements of the SEC and national securities exchanges.
For additional information, please contact Brian P. Kerwin or any of the practice members referenced in the Attorney Listing.
Securitization is a way to transform an illiquid asset (or group of illiquid assets) into a security. A group of contractual debt obligations -- e.g. a mortgage, auto loan, or credit card debt obligation -- is pooled together and the cashflows resulting from these underlyings is resold to investors as a security. Examples of securitized securities include bonds, pass-through securities, or collateralized debt obligations.
The securitization process has two basic steps. First, a creditor pools assets from its balance sheet into a portfolio and sells it to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) or other issuer (for example, a trust). The asset originator is therefore removed from the equation and has no legal interests in the securities created.
A financial services lawyer is an attorney who helps people with financial legal issues. This kind of lawyer often specialize in a certain type of finance law. A financial lawyer can help clients with a wide variety of financial matters. Finance law includes many different specific areas of law. Finance law deals with the rules ...
Insurance and Annuities: A financial services lawyer can help you understand your insurance or annuities. An annuity is a contract used to create a savings or retirement plan. A financial services lawyer can explain the details of your annuity contract.
Depending on your specific situation, different tax laws will apply. A financial services lawyer that specializes in tax law can help you file your taxes. They will explain what tax laws affect your personal taxes or your business’ taxes. They can offer advice during the entire process of filing your taxes.
An experienced lawyer can make sure that any debt collectors are following the rules for collecting debt. Also, they will know about the specific rules under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). A specialized attorney will also know debt collector harassment laws.
Reputation: The reputation of a financial lawyer is an important factor to consider. A financial lawyer with a good reputation in a specialized area of finance law will give you the best results. Personality: Everyone has a different personality.
Finance law includes many different specific areas of law. Finance law deals with the rules that apply to financial matters. Finance law includes topics like insurance, investments, commercial banking, capital marketing, etc. Finances are very important in your everyday life.
For example, there are some financial services lawyers that only take tax law cases. This means they would not be able to help you file for bankruptcy. Instead, you would need a lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy law cases. Give a lawyer any facts and specific details about the financial issue you need help with.