Securities Law

Blue sky laws are state laws regulating the issuance and sale of securities under state law. States passed securities laws to protect the public from fraudulent schemes before the federal government did so, beginning with Kansas in 1911. The phrase "blue sky" comes from the idea that some investment schemes are so speculative they "have no more basis than so many feet of 'blue sky.'" Hall v. Geiger-Jones Co., 242 U.S. 539, 550 (1917). Examples include "'stock in fly-by-night concerns, visionary oil wells, distant gold mines and other like fraudulent exploitations.'" Id. Current state statutes and regulations can be searched on state government websites in addition to legal research tools like Lexis and Westlaw. Cheetah has a good selection of resources on blue sky laws, including state comparison charts.