California Corporate & Securities Law

Last week, the Department of Corporations issued this bulletin which it styled as a "Crowdfunding Update".  The Bulletin makes several important points.

As part of the state budget process, state agencies must appear and testify before legislative budget committees. I recall some stressful moments testifying on the Corporations Committee Budget before a budget committee chaired by then Senator Steve...

Yesterday's post identified some of the differences between the lists of securities in the California Corporate Securities Law and the federal Securities Act of 1933. One difference that I did not mention was California's explicit statement that all...

Both the California legislature and the U.S. Congress have enacted extensional definitions of "security" - that is Section 25019 of the Corporate Securities Law of 1968 and Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act each provides a list of what...

California has not one, but two franchise laws.  The Franchise Investment Law ("FIL"), Corporations Code Section 31000 et seq., is administered and enforced by the the Commissioner of Corporations. The Franchise Relations Act ("FRA") is located in...

It's been three years, but the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n, 558 US 50 (2010) continues to foment a fierce debate about corporate political spending. In February, Representative Adam Schiff of California...

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had filed a civil complaint against a California lawyer for "churning out baseless legal opinion letters for penny stocks through his website without researching and evaluating the...

The Mentor Blog this week noted the publication of a recent study of Blue Sky exemptions covering private resales.  The study was prepared by SecondMarket, which describes itself as an "online marketplace for illiquid assets". The study was submitted...

The state, of course, likes to see corporations pay their taxes. When a corporation fails to do so, "the corporate powers, rights and privileges of a domestic taxpayer may be suspended, and the exercise of the corporate powers, rights, and...