USA financial services regulation

The financial services industry in the US is heavily regulated by a myriad of different regulators at state and federal level. In the wake of the global economic crisis, the regulatory regime has undergone and continues to undergo much change. Additionally, US regulators consider themselves to have a broad jurisdictional reach over registered and non-registered entities alike, even if they are located outside of the US. The Practice Notes in this topic area cover various aspects of the regulatory regime in the US, including:

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information about the regulators
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the types of activities that require registration
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how to register and the types of regulation to which registered firms are subject
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the enforcement process, and
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how US laws and regulations in the financial services industry may impact non-US firms

The regulators

The two main federal regulators for the securities markets and financial instruments in the US are the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The SEC is an independent government agency which oversees the key participants in the securities world, including securities ...

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