Our Securities Law Group is experienced in helping clients understand and comply with securities laws. Their experience covers all phases of raising capital and a broad range of securities disciplines, including:
- Private Placements (Regulation D and JOBS Act)
- Start-up Financing Transactions
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Funding
- “Going Public” Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
- SEC Registered Public Offerings
- Public Company Securities Compliance and Reporting
- Schedule 13D and 13G and Forms 3, 4 and 5 Beneficial Ownership Reports
- Rule 144 Sales and Other Sales of Restricted Securities
- SEC and Stock Exchange Investigations, including insider trading
- Public Company Mergers and Acquisitions
- Takeovers (Offense and Defense)
- Florida Securities Regulation
– Securities Registration Exemptions
– Investment Adviser Registration and Regulation
– Broker Dealer Regulation - FINRA Broker Dealer Regulation and Investigation
- Investment Company and Investment Adviser Regulation
- Securities Litigation, including Class Actions
Securities laws may impact you in a variety of ways. For example, securities laws are involved when you raise investors’ funds to start or grow your own or another person’s business or when you tell investors what to do with their money. Securities laws are involved not only in the offer and sale of traditional “securities” such as stocks and bonds, but they also may be involved with unusual investment arrangements, including rental condominiums and even orange groves. There are numerous federal and state securities laws that form a sometimes confusing web of laws, regulations and regulatory bodies. Successful compliance is often complicated and highly technical. Serious consequences await securities law violators, including regulatory sanctions and personal financial liability. Aggravated situations may result in criminal penalties.
We assist in dealings with the various securities regulators, including the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (Florida Division of Securities) and other state securities regulators and stock exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ).
Also, we help clients who have been the victims of securities fraud, assisting them when litigation is needed to secure a proper remedy.
We do not view securities law issues in isolation from other business law matters. Rather, we deal with securities law issues as an integral part of the legal and business life cycle of growing companies. We believe this viewpoint and our broad experience helps us to recognize the key issues, anticipate problems and help assist our clients achieve successful results. Each of our senior securities and corporate attorneys has worked in the Securities Group for at least a decade and, in some cases, far longer. The result is that we have a core of seasoned securities lawyers who combine judgment and maturity borne of experience with substantive legal expertise.
