{"id":377148,"date":"2018-06-25T18:05:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T23:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/washington-law\/washington-securities-fraud-laws.html"},"modified":"2018-06-27T12:01:38","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T17:01:38","slug":"washington-securities-fraud-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/washington-law\/washington-securities-fraud-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Washington Securities Fraud Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Washington Securities Fraud Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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Financial investments, such as stocks or bonds, are referred to as securities. Securities fraud occurs when false or misleading statements are made about a company or the value of its stocks for the purpose of persuading people to make financial decisions based on the false or misleading statements. Securities fraud can cause significant financial damage, which is why there are securities laws<\/a> at the both the state and federal levels.<\/p>\r\n

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a> is responsible for enforcing federal securities laws while the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions<\/a> (DFI) regulates state chartered financial services and also provides education to protect consumers from financial fraud. The Securities Act of Washington<\/a> governs securities and prohibits various practices relating to securities. The prohibited practices are divided into the following categories:<\/p>\r\n