
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC77q]

 
                      TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
 
               CHAPTER 2A--SECURITIES AND TRUST INDENTURES
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--DOMESTIC SECURITIES
 
Sec. 77q. Fraudulent interstate transactions


(a) Use of interstate commerce for purpose of fraud or deceit

    It shall be unlawful for any person in the offer or sale of any 
securities or any security-based swap agreement (as defined in section 
206B of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) by the use of any means or 
instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or 
by use of the mails, directly or indirectly--
        (1) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud, or
        (2) to obtain money or property by means of any untrue statement 
    of a material fact or any omission to state a material fact 
    necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the 
    circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or
        (3) to engage in any transaction, practice, or course of 
    business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon 
    the purchaser.

(b) Use of interstate commerce for purpose of offering for sale

    It shall be unlawful for any person, by the use of any means or 
instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or 
by the use of the mails, to publish, give publicity to, or circulate any 
notice, circular, advertisement, newspaper, article, letter, investment 
service, or communication which, though not purporting to offer a 
security for sale, describes such security for a consideration received 
or to be received, directly or indirectly, from an issuer, underwriter, 
or dealer, without fully disclosing the receipt, whether past or 
prospective, of such consideration and the amount thereof.

(c) Exemptions of section 77c not applicable to this section

    The exemptions provided in section 77c of this title shall not apply 
to the provisions of this section.

(d) Authority with respect to security-based swap agreements

    The authority of the Commission under this section with respect to 
security-based swap agreements (as defined in section 206B of the Gramm-
Leach-Bliley Act) shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations 
of section 77b-1(b) of this title.

(May 27, 1933, ch. 38, title I, Sec. 17, 48 Stat. 84; Aug. 10, 1954, ch. 
667, title I, Sec. 10, 68 Stat. 686; Pub. L. 106-554, Sec. 1(a)(5) 
[title III, Sec. 302(b), (c)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-
452.)

                       References in Text

    Section 206B of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, referred to in subsecs. 
(a) and (d), is section 206B of Pub. L. 106-102 which is set out in a 
note under section 78c of this title.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106-554, Sec. 1(a)(5) [title III, 
Sec. 302(b)], amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. 
(a) read as follows: ``It shall be unlawful for any person in the offer 
or sale of any securities by the use of any means or instruments of 
transportation or communication in interstate commerce or by the use of 
the mails, directly or indirectly--
        ``(1) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud, or
        ``(2) to obtain money or property by means of any untrue 
    statement of a material fact or any omission to state a material 
    fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of 
    the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or
        ``(3) to engage in any transaction, practice, or course of 
    business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon 
    the purchaser.''
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106-554, Sec. 1(a)(5) [title III, Sec. 302(c)], 
added subsec. (d).
    1954--Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 10, 1954, inserted ``offer or'' before 
``sale'' in introductory text.


                    Effective Date of 1954 Amendment

    Amendment by act Aug. 10, 1954, effective 60 days after Aug. 10, 
1954, see note under section 77b of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 77t, 77eee, 78j, 3904 of 
this title; title 7 section 1932; title 42 section 9675.
