The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy provides a variety of services and tools to address problems you may face as an investor. Investor Alerts, focused on recent investment frauds and scams, and Investor Bulletins, focused on topical issues including recent Commission actions, are provided as a service to investors. They are neither legal interpretations nor statements of SEC policy. If you have questions concerning the meaning or application of a particular law or rule, please consult with an attorney who specializes in securities law. Subscribe to get Investor Alerts and Bulletins by email.

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Investor Alerts and Bulletins Table

Date
Title
Category
Date: Title: Updated Investor Bulletin: An Introduction to ABLE Accounts
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about ABLE accounts. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investment Management
Date: Title: Trading Prohibitions on Foreign Companies Under the HFCAA: Updated Investor Bulletin
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Updated Investor Bulletin: Investing in an IPO
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Updated Investor Bulletin: Crowdfunding Investment Limits Increase
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to advise investors about the inflation-adjusted increase in the investment limits for securities-based crowdfunding. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Updated Investor Bulletin: Regulation Crowdfunding for Investors
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about a new investing opportunity in the form of securities-based crowdfunding. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Investor Resilience – World Investor Week 2022: Investor Bulletin
Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investment Management
Investor Education and Advocacy
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Private Placements under Regulation D – Investor Bulletin
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Crypto Asset Interest-bearing Accounts
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Key Topics for World Investor Week 2021: Investor Bulletin
Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investment Management
Investor Education and Advocacy
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin:  U.S.-Listed Companies Operating Chinese Businesses Through a VIE Structure
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Accredited Investors – Updated Investor Bulletin
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate individual investors about what it means to be an “accredited investor.” 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Updated Investor Bulletin: Regulation A
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about Regulation A. Regulation A is an exemption from registration under the Securities Act that allows companies to raise money from the public in securities offerings of up to $50 million. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Celebrity Involvement with SPACs – Investor Alert
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Updated Investor Bulletin: Insider Transactions and Forms 3, 4, and 5
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: How to Read an 8-K
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Broadly Advertised Investments – Investor Alert
Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) – Investor Alert
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this alert to urge investors to use caution before investing in so-called “initial exchange offerings” through online trading platforms. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Investor Alert: Beware of Claims That the SEC Has Approved Offerings
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to warn investors of misrepresentations about SEC “approvals” of offerings. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: 10 Investment Tips for 2019
Whether you are a first-time investor or have been investing for years, here are 10 tips from the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy to help you in 2019. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investment Management
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: World Investor Week 2018
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, FINRA, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) are issuing this Investor Bulletin to highlight key messages from World Investor Week 2018. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investment Management
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Investment Clubs
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to answer some common questions investors ask us about investment clubs. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investment Management
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: The Municipal Securities Market
The SEC’s Offices of Investor Education and Advocacy and Municipal Securities are issuing a series of three Investor Bulletins to help educate investors about the municipal securities market. This Bulletin provides an overview of the municipal securities market, including the different types of municipal issuers, how the municipal securities market is regulated, and what types of disclosures investors may be able to obtain about municipal securities. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Municipal Bonds – An Overview
The SEC’s Offices of Investor Education and Advocacy and Municipal Securities are issuing a series of three Investor Bulletins to help educate investors about the municipal securities market. This Bulletin provides an overview of municipal bonds, including the different types of municipal bonds, what information an investor should review before investing in municipal bonds and where investors can find information about them. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Be Cautious of SAFEs in Crowdfunding
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about a type of security, often described as a SAFE (a “Simple Agreement for Future Equity”), that may be offered in crowdfunding offerings. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Publicly Traded REITs
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this bulletin to educate investors about investing in publicly traded REITs. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs)
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”). ETNs are unsecured debt obligations of financial institutions that trade on a securities exchange. ETN payment terms are linked to the performance of a reference index or benchmark, representing the ETN’s investment objective. You should understand that ETNs are complex and involve many risks for interested investors, and can result in the loss of your entire investment. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Non-traded REITs
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this bulletin to educate investors about investing in non-traded REITs. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Investor Bulletin: Bankruptcy for a Public Company
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about what happens when a publicly traded company declares bankruptcy. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Investor Alert: Marijuana-Related Investments
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to warn investors about potential risks involving investments in marijuana-related companies. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investor Education and Advocacy
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: INVESTOR ALERT: BITCOIN AND OTHER VIRTUAL CURRENCY-RELATED INVESTMENTS
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to make investors aware about the potential risks of investments involving Bitcoin and other forms of virtual currency. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: INVESTOR ALERT: BEWARE OF FALSE CLAIMS OF SEC REGISTRATION
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to warn investors about potentially fraudulent investment schemes that involve individuals or firms misrepresenting that they are registered with the SEC. Investors should be careful to check the background, including license and registration status, of any person who tries to sell them an investment product or service, and should avoid investing with anyone who falsely represents that they are registered with the SEC. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Investor Education and Advocacy
Date: Title: Delinquent Filings
The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors with information on the SEC's Delinquent Filings Program. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: Advertising for Unregistered Securities Offerings (PDF)
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to educate individual investors about advertisements and announcements for investment opportunities in certain securities offerings. General advertising is permitted in certain offerings as a result of rules adopted by the SEC as required by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investment Management
Date: Title: What Are High-yield Corporate Bonds? (PDF)
The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate individual investors about high-yield corporate bonds, also called "junk bonds." While they generally offer a higher yield than investment-grade bonds, high-yield bonds also carry a higher risk of default. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: What Are Corporate Bonds? (PDF)
The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to offer basic information about corporate bonds. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Interest Rate Risk -— When Interest Rates Go Up, Prices of Fixed-Rate Bonds Fall (PDF)
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to make investors aware that market interest rates and bond prices move in opposite directions—for example, when market interest rates go up, prices of fixed-rate bonds fall. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Private Oil and Gas Offerings (PDF)
The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this alert to educate individual investors about certain risks and possible fraudulent activity involving private offerings of securities for oil and gas ventures. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Enforcement
Date: Title: Investing in an IPO (PDF)
Historically, an initial public offering, or IPO, has referred to the first time a company offers its shares of capital stock to the general public. Under the federal securities laws, a company may not lawfully offer or sell shares unless the transaction has been registered with the SEC or an exemption applies... 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Insider Transactions and Forms 3, 4, and 5 (PDF)
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help educate investors about SEC Forms 3, 4, and 5. The federal securities laws require certain individuals (such as officers, directors, and those that hold more than 10% of any class of a company’s securities, together we’ll call, “insiders”) to report purchases, sales, and holdings of their company’s securities by filing Forms 3, 4, and 5. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Municipal Bonds - Understanding Credit Risk (PDF)
The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help educate investors about assessing credit risks they face when purchasing municipal bonds, which may also be called notes or certificates of participation. Credit risk—or default risk—is the risk that interest and/or principal on the securities will not be paid on time and in full. Investors need to know who is responsible for repayment of the securities and the financial condition of that entity to assess the credit risk and decide whether to purchase the securities. It is important to look beyond the short-hand label given to a municipal bond, such as "general obligation bond" or "revenue bond," or the bond's credit rating. Investors should read the disclosure document, known as the "official statement," which provides important details about the offering, including the factors described below. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Trading and Markets
Date: Title: American Depositary Receipts (PDF)
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). An ADR is a security that represents shares of non-U.S. companies that are held by a U.S. depositary bank outside the United States (“U.S.”). 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: How to Read an 8-K (PDF)
A company has just released its quarterly earnings. Another company has auditor news that could raise a red flag, and a third company is filing for bankruptcy. Where can you find more facts? Information about these events and many more are found in a document called a current report on Form 8-K. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) (PDF)
Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) have been around for more than fifty years. Congress established REITs in 1960 to allow individual investors to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate. REITs provide a way for individual investors to earn a share of the income produced through commercial real estate ownership – without actually having to go out and buy commercial real estate. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Investment Management
Date: Title: How to Read a 10-K (PDF)
If you want to follow or invest in a U.S. public company, you can find a wealth of information in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K. Among other things, the 10-K offers a detailed picture of a company’s business, the risks it faces, and the operating and financial results for the fiscal year. Company management also discusses its perspective on the business results and what is driving them. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Spotlight on Proxy Matters
Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Structured Notes with Principal Protection: Note the Terms of Your Investment
The retail market for structured notes with principal protection has been growing in recent years. While these products often have reassuring names that include some variant of “principal protection,” “capital guarantee,” “absolute return,” “minimum return” or similar terms, they are not risk-free. Any promise to repay some or all of the money you invest will depend on the creditworthiness of the issuer of the note—meaning you could lose all of your money if the issuer of your note goes bankrupt. 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Reverse Mergers
Many private companies, including some whose operations are located in foreign countries, seek to access the U.S. capital markets by merging with existing public companies. These transactions are commonly referred to as “reverse mergers” or “reverse takeovers (RTOs).” 		Category:Corporation Finance
Date: Title: Say on Pay and Golden Parachute Votes (PDF)
The Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help investors -understand new rules about shareholder votes on Say-on-Pay and golden parachutes. 		Category:Corporation Finance
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