Office address: 750 First Street NE, Suite 990, Washington, DC 20002
Website: nasaa.org
Year established: 1919
Company type: nonprofit
Employees: 50+
Expertise: investor protection, securities regulation, investment fraud enforcement, investment advisor licensing, broker-dealer oversight, investor education, securities law policy and advocacy, senior investor protection, franchise regulation, securities exam administration
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Marni Rock Gibson (president), Elizabeth Bowling (president-elect), Stephen Bouchard (secretary), H. Jane Anderson (treasurer), Joseph Brady (executive director), Pamela Epting (senior advisor)
Financing status: nonprofit (member-funded voluntary association)
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) is a Washington-based nonprofit of 67 securities regulators. Its members license firms, investigate fraud, and enforce securities laws across the US, Canada, and Mexico. The group also runs investor education programs and manages the Electronic Filing Depository for multi-state regulatory filings.
NASAA was founded in Kansas in 1919, eight years after the state passed the country’s first Blue Sky Law. That 1911 law set out to protect investors from securities fraud at the state level.
Other states soon followed with their own versions, but regulators had no way to coordinate across borders. North American Securities Administrators Association stepped in to bring those state-level regulators together under one association.
NASAA has since grown from a small group of state regulators to a 67-member association across three countries. Its membership now spans all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Canada, and Mexico.
Members license securities firms and investment advisor firms managing under $100 million in assets. The association also built the Electronic Filing Depository to simplify multi-state regulatory filings.
Members at the North American Securities Administrators Association approved the Model Act to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation in 2016. That model law has since been adopted in some form across 43 states and territories.
The association also voted in 2025 to restrict broker-dealer agents from using the “advisor” title without proper licensure. The update brought NASAA’s conduct rule in line with the SEC’s Reg BI.
The association’s 2024–25 investment advisor report found that state-registered RIAs ended 2024 with over $361 billion in AUM. The report showed more than 16,500 home-state registered firms and an $18.5 billion rise in AUM, but a net loss of 322 firms.
The North American Securities Administrators Association also launched the NASAA Investor Protection and Education Foundation in 2025 to fund research and fraud prevention.
NASAA offers regulatory tools and programs built for state-level securities oversight across North America:
The North American Securities Administrators Association also publishes annual reports on state-registered RIAs, enforcement data, and industry trends.
NASAA describes its workplace as welcoming and accepting of all people regardless of background. The association’s DEI statement says it is committed to fostering inclusion, respect, and fair treatment across its membership and staff.
North American Securities Administrators Association is based in Washington DC and runs a hybrid work model for eligible staff. New hires complete structured onboarding before moving to a remote-eligible schedule:
NASAA members fielded over 1,800 complaints from older investors and filed 133 enforcement actions involving seniors in 2022. The association also runs annual training seminars for agency staff and issues public alerts on scams like romance fraud.
Marni Rock Gibson is NASAA’s 2025–26 president and has served as commissioner of Kentucky’s DFI since September 2023. Gibson worked as a relationship banker and branch manager before joining DFI in 2009 as a securities enforcement officer. She has over 25 years in financial services and holds a BA from Transylvania University.
Other key leaders on the North American Securities Administrators Association’s board and staff include:
The board officers are state and provincial securities regulators who serve on NASAA’s board while holding their primary government positions.
The North American Securities Administrators Association published its Enforcement Report (2025). It showed state regulators ran more than 8,800 active investigations in 2024 across 49 US jurisdictions.
Digital asset fraud ranked as the top investor threat for the third straight year, followed by “pig butchering” romance and investment scams. These trends may point to digital fraud and senior protection as one of the North American Securities Administrators Association’s likely priorities going forward.
On the regulatory front, NASAA sent a letter to the SEC in early 2026 about FINRA’s proposed Rule 3290. The rule would replace two older rules that govern brokers’ outside business activities and private deals.
NASAA argued that the proposal’s definitions were too narrow and could let risky side businesses slip past firm oversight. This push signals NASAA’s growing role in shaping how broker-dealer conduct rules get written at the federal level.
It's crucial for investment advisors to recognize the consequences of failing to meet their annual continuing education obligations.
'It's supervision by Zoom,' PIABA says, while Finra says the new rules reflect hybrid work arrangements while protecting investors.
'Finra provides essential services ... thousands of firms, hundreds of thousands of registered persons, and millions of American investors rely upon,' the North American Securities Administrators Association says in a brief.
The rule allowing such inspections is due to expire at the end of this year, but Finra has asked to delay the expiration until June 30.
Over nearly three years 'our branch examiners have refined their skills and become very adept at identifying risk remotely,' insists LPL Financial.
Hodgepodge of different regulations needs addressing, says securities lawyer.
States found lower rates of problems with investment advisors across numerous categories.
'Efforts to address the standard of care concepts established by Reg BI remain perfunctory,' the NASAA report states.
'As a mother of three young kids ... I am so pleased to see NASAA recognizing the need for some flexibility,' an advisor says.
Securities attorney hails 'good day for Finra and an even better day for investors.'
But LPL Financial, Fidelity back the idea of allowing supervisors to work from home, using technology to oversee reps, as they did during the pandemic.
The industry’s frustration is understandable. But state regulators and the plaintiff’s bar have a point, too.
Temporary relief from onsite inspections runs out at the end of this year, so firms are hoping the SEC moves quickly on the proposals.
The firm was also ordered to return $8.25 million to retail customers.
The Alabama Securities Commission issues a cease-and-desist against two men who scammed 88 victims out of more than $22.5 million.
