Evans Law, PC
Resources
The official sources, kept short — and the public records that let you check a firm, an adviser or a filing yourself.
What this is
Few links, chosen because they last.
A page of a hundred links stops being useful the moment a quarter of them break, and regulators reorganize their websites constantly. Everything here points at a front door rather than a deep link, so it keeps working.
The most useful items are in the second group. Anyone can check a broker, an investment adviser or a company’s filings for free, in about a minute, and most people do not know these records exist.
Regulators
The primary sources. Rules, guidance and enforcement come from here.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
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Your state securities regulator
NASAA’s directory — state law applies alongside federal.
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- National Futures Association
- Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
- Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Checking someone, free
Public records. Use them before you invest, and before you hire.
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BrokerCheck
Registration, employment history, customer complaints and disciplinary events for brokers and their firms.
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Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
Form ADV for any registered adviser, including fees, conflicts and disciplinary history.
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EDGAR full-text search
Every filing made to the SEC, searchable by phrase.
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SEC Action Lookup for individuals
Whether the SEC has ever brought an action against a named person.
The law itself
Statutes and rules in their current form, not a summary of them.
- Securities Act of 1933
- Securities Exchange Act of 1934
- Investment Advisers Act of 1940
- Investment Company Act of 1940
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SEC regulations — 17 CFR
Regulation D, Regulation A and the rest, continuously updated.
- The FINRA rulebook
Forming and keeping an entity
The two states most of this firm’s clients organize in.
Written here
Where this firm has explained something in plain terms.
Official sources tell you what a rule says. These say what it means when it lands on your desk.
FINRA Rule 8210 requests
You cannot decline to answer and keep your registration.
Wells notices
Not only the SEC, and the real decision is whether to respond at all.
Statutory disqualification
A status, not a sanction — and it reaches every associated person.
Rule 506(b) vs. Rule 506(c)
Advertise the offering, or accept unaccredited investors. Not both.
LLC, corporation or partnership
Almost everyone asking this is asking a tax question in legal clothing.
What an operating agreement should decide
Written while everyone likes each other, and read when they don’t.
Business and corporate glossary
The words in a deal document, defined in plain English, with California’s answer where it differs.