What US federal law requires registration of securities for public sale?

The Securities Act of 1933 requires registration of securities offered for public sale unless an exemption applies.

The law was the first major federal securities statute enacted after the 1929 stock-market crash. Its central purpose is disclosure: investors should receive material information about a company and the securities being offered so they can evaluate risks before investing. Registration statements and prospectuses are key tools in that process, and the Securities and Exchange Commission administers the statute.

Registration is not the same as government approval of an investment. The SEC reviews filings for compliance and disclosure, but it does not certify that a security is safe or guarantee that an offering will succeed. The Act also provides remedies for certain material misstatements or omissions in registration documents.

A common mix-up is the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which primarily regulates secondary-market trading, public-company reporting, exchanges, and broker-dealers. The Dodd-Frank Act followed the 2008 financial crisis, while Sarbanes-Oxley mainly addressed corporate reporting and audit accountability. Many offerings can qualify for statutory or regulatory exemptions from registration.