NASAA Takes on JOBS Act and Seeks Investor Protection Measures

NASAA today unveiled its advocacy agenda calling for affirmative Congressional action to promote investor confidence.  NASAA actively will seek legislation in four specific areas, including legislation to:

• authorize the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations to collect user fees from the investment advisers it examines;
• permit reasonable civil recovery for fraud associated with crowdfunding and other small offerings;
• strengthen investor protection provisions weakened by the JOBS Act to minimize the Act’s enormous potential for abuse; and
• empower state regulators to curtail the use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in contracts between state-registered investment advisers and their clients.

NASAA also is calling on Congress to investigate opaque market activities, including those of “dark pools,” hedge funds and high-frequency traders.