The Texas State Securities Board is a Texas state agency headquartered in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. State legislation established the Board in 1957 when the 55th Texas Legislature passed the Securities Act (S.B. 294), which created the State Securities Board, provided for the appointment of a commissioner, defined relevant terms, and outlined the responsibilities of the Board.
The board enforces the Texas Securities Act (TEX. REV. CIV. STAT. ANN. art. 581–1) and maintains programs for enforcement, registration of securities, registration of securities dealers,
investment advisers, and agents, and inspections of registered firms. Prior to online databases, information about these registrations and some updates about the agency's activities were published in a monthly print bulletin issued by the Board.
The board has also developed and implemented an investor education program to inform the public about the basics of investing in securities, with a special emphasis on the prevention and detection of
securities fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information.[Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...]
,
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Lubbock
Lubbock ( )
is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...
,
Corpus Christi, and
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
.
Cryptocurrency
The Texas State Securities Board has actively considered potential issues related to cryptocurrency. According to the Board's annual financial report for fiscal year 2019:
The agency's law enforcement program has been a national leader in proactively thwarting investment frauds utilizing the Internet and other public media. In December 2017, Texas was the first state regulator to take action against a fraudulent investment scheme targeting Texas investors amidst the cryptocurrency 'craze.' The agency has since entered 26 orders against promoters of purported investment products attempting to capitalize on the emergence of digital assets.
In January 2018, the British company called Bit Connect received a
cease-and-desist order
A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the other ...
by the Texas State Securities Board, since they promise massive monthly returns but haven't even registered with state securities regulators or cited an office address.
References
External links
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State agencies of Texas
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