Securities Law Committee

The Securities Committee is a standing committee of the Section comprised of eleven members, including two ex-officio members who are representatives of the Washington Securities Division and the Pacific Region of the SEC.

The Committee is responsible for monitoring proposed federal and Washington state legislation and rulemaking, providing feedback to regulators, and considering and recommending, as appropriate, new Washington securities legislation. In addition, the Committee sponsors two annual securities CLE programs: (1) the Northwest Securities Institute, a regional CLE for securities practitioners (co-sponsored with the Oregon Bar Association Securities Committee) held annually in February and alternating in location each year among Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, B.C.; and (2) the "Meet the Securities Regulators" program held annually in Seattle in the fall.

The Committee has proposed, and the Business Law Section Executive Committee has endorsed, a number of specific changes to the Washington Securities Act. These changes were tabled by the WSBA Legislative Committee for 2010, but may be reintroduced in the future.

In March 2010, the Securities Committee, with the endorsement of the Executive Committee, sent a letter to Senator Dodd and the Senate Banking Committee expressing the Section’s opposition to provisions in the proposed financial reform legislation that would, in the Committee’s view, undermine federal preemption with respect to Rule 506 offerings. The Committee’s letter expressed the concern that such a change would be a significant impediment to the ability of companies in Washington to raise capital.

Committee Chair:

Mark R. Beatty
Law Office of Mark R. Beatty
10900 NE 4th St., Ste. 1850
Bellevue, WA 98004-8341
Phone: (425) 990-4026
markbeatty2004@comcast.net