Securities Law

• Finance professionals
• Investors and investment professionals
• Lawyers
• Business leaders
• Compliance and risk management professionals
• Procurement professionals
• Fundraising professionals

• Securities Law Certificate from Cornell Law School
• 48 Professional Development Hours (4.8 CEUs)

Securities regulation — the law of capital markets — is complex because the marketplace is constantly changing, with new instruments to raise capital, novel ways to market and sell securities, and evolving responsibilities to investors. Anyone whose work involves making or managing investments or raising capital for their organization needs a solid grounding in the types of instruments that may be considered securities and how the issuing, selling, and trading of these assets is regulated.

This program will equip you to better understand and work within this complex and important area of finance and regulation, and to gauge the potential risks, liabilities, and protections involved with securities in their many forms. You will begin with an exploration of regulations around the issuance, offer, and sale of securities, homing in on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration process and exemptions from registration. While exploring what constitutes a security in the U.S. markets, you’ll discover the implications of defining a security and what regulations come into play. You will then examine the securities underwriting process and key steps in drafting, filing, and “going effective” on an SEC registration statement. Lastly, you will become familiar with liabilities that can arise under the federal securities laws.

By the end of this program, you will have gained the practical knowledge to more confidently navigate the laws and regulations that affect securities and the capital-raising process.

The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order in which they appear.