Quick Answer
The Administrator is the state official who administers and enforces the state's securities law, and the title varies by state. The office may make rules, investigate publicly or privately inside or outside the state, subpoena witnesses and records, and administer oaths. Only a court enforces a subpoena.
The whole unit on one sheet: who the Administrator is, what the office does alone, and where its power stops.
Who Is the Administrator?
- The Administrator is the state official or agency designated to administer and enforce the state's securities laws. The title varies: Commissioner, Director, Secretary of State, or another.
- Each state has its own Administrator. There is no national Administrator.
- NASAA coordinates among Administrators but is not a regulator: it cannot investigate, issue orders, or bring enforcement actions.
What May the Administrator Do Alone?
- Make, amend, and rescind rules, forms, and orders consistent with the Act, and require written statements under oath.
- Conduct public or private investigations, within or outside the state, with no court approval and no complaint needed.
- Subpoena witnesses and documents, and administer oaths.
- A rule is valid only if it is published and the Administrator found it necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for investor protection.
- A person who followed a rule in good faith stays protected even if that rule is later struck down.
Where Does the Power Stop?
- The Administrator may issue a subpoena but cannot enforce it. A person who refuses is taken to court, and only the court holds them in contempt.
- The Administrator cannot award restitution, rescission, or disgorgement. Those are court-ordered; the Administrator only requests them.
- The Administrator cannot arrest anyone and cannot impose criminal fines or imprisonment.
- The Administrator needs no bond to seek an injunction.
Which Gotchas Are Tested Most?
- NASAA is not a regulator. It writes model rules and coordinates; only the state Administrator enforces.
- Confidentiality binds the Administrator's own staff. Officers and employees may not use non-public information for personal benefit.
- Compelled testimony after a claim of privilege carries transactional immunity: the state may not prosecute the witness for that matter at all. It never immunizes perjury, and it does not bind federal prosecutors.
Who Can Do What?
- Administrator alone: rules, investigations, subpoenas, cease and desist
- Administrator + court: enforcing a subpoena, injunctions
- Court alone: arrest, criminal penalties, imprisonment
One-Breath Recap
The Administrator is the state official who administers and enforces the state's securities law, each state has its own, and NASAA only coordinates. Alone the office makes published rules, investigates inside or outside the state, and subpoenas witnesses and records. A court is required to enforce a subpoena, to grant any monetary remedy, and to impose any criminal penalty.
Need more than the recap? Read the full Authority of the State Securities Administrator unit.