Securities and Transaction Exemptions under Blue Sky Laws

Summary

This practice note discusses exemptions to state registration and qualification requirements for securities offerings. The National Securities Market Improvements Act of 1996 (NSMIA) preempted state authority with regard to NSMIA “covered securities.” After NSMIA, states may not require registration or qualification of securities or securities transactions involving covered securities. However, NSMIA left intact state registration authority over smaller, regional or intrastate offerings, and for those offerings not involving covered securities.