Oral Histories Aim to Preserve State Securities History

In an effort to preserve the history of blue sky regulation, the website of the SEC Historical Society now includes a series of recorded interviews with persons significant to state securities work. As announced by the Society last fall when it published the first of the oral histories, a working group of current and former state securities administrators has volunteered to assist the Society in preserving state securities history in its virtual museum and archive. Hugh Makens, former Director of the Michigan Corporation and Securities Bureau and a past President of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), chairs the group.

The first group of interviews provides some interesting material for those unfamiliar with the history and development of the NASAA organization. For example, NASAA's first Executive Director, Bruce Burditt, and former NASAA President Jeffrey Bartell (Wisconsin) discuss how NASAA began to emerge as a potent force in the area of state securities regulation near the end of the 1970s. According to Bartell and Burditt, this was due in large measure to NASAA's development, with the NASD, of a uniform examination for the licensing of securities agents. Not only did the uniform examination eliminate a patchwork of individual state tests and procedures, but NASAA's share of the fees from the administration of the examination allowed the organization to hire an executive director and staff and ultimately take a much more active role in the area of merit regulation.

Other state securities materials currently posted to the Society's website include interviews with former NASAA Presidents Christine Bruenn (Maine) and Lewis Brothers (Virginia). The interviews may be accessed in either audio or written format. The Society has also announced that the working group is preparing a timeline of important state securities events over the last century with an eye to adding these developments to the Society's Timeline in the future.