Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Sweeping legislation passed in 1934 and codified at 15 U.S.C. Sec. 78a et seq., which created the Securities and Exchange Commission and is designed to regulate all "secondary markets." This legislation followed the passage of the Securities Act of 1933, which regulated the issuing of securities in the "primary market," that is, the market between the issuing company and the initial purchaser. The Act, by distinction, regulates the trading of securities in the secondary market among persons often unrelated to the issuing company, usually through brokers or dealers.