Welcome to the State of California - Department of Corporations' website

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About Us!

The Mission of the California Department of Corporations:
  1. Ensure an efficient and accessible financial services marketplace in California,
  2. Educate the public about the risks and rewards in investing and finances, and
  3. Enforce California’s financial services laws to protect the public from fraud.
About the California Department of Corporations

The Department of Corporations is California's Investment and Financing Authority, and has exclusive authority to bring both civil and administrative actions under the laws subject to the jurisdiction of the California Corporations Commissioner.

We license and regulate a variety of businesses that affect the lives of Californians and represent a significant part of the state's economy, including securities brokers and dealers, investment advisers and financial planners, and certain fiduciaries and lenders. We also regulate the offer and sales of securities, franchises and off-exchange commodities.

The Department has certified certain national securities exchanges under Corporations Code section 25100(o), such as the New York Stock Exchange as well as the National Global System of the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, to exempt from the Department's review and approval process under the Corporate Securities Law of 1968, as amended, warrants or rights to purchase or subscribe to a security listed on the certified exchange. However, securities listed on the second tier of some national securities exchanges and on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market, and any warrants or rights to purchase or subscribe to those securities, remain subject to the Department's review and approval process, unless otherwise exempt under the law.

The Department reports to the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and the Governor. We are the last line of defense for many of the most significant financial transactions that Californians make, from mortgages to retirement plans.

The California Department of Corporations by the Numbers

Since 2001, the Department has compelled finance lenders and mortgage bankers to make over $60 Million in refunds to consumers.

The Department has authority over finance lenders and brokers who, in 2006, made or assisted in the making of about $315.5 billion in consumer and commercial finance loans. The Department also regulates mortgage bankers who made $252 billion in home loans to Californians in 2006, and who serviced $603 billion in home loans during that year.

Since 2001, the Department has brought approximately 4,581 enforcement actions, including but not limited to, against people or companies perpetrating frauds, making misrepresentations, and pursuing predatory practices.

The Department regulates over 309,000 entities, including:

  • 3,461 broker-dealers,
  • 260,281 agents or registered representatives,
  • 2,979 investment advisers,
  • 43,759 investment adviser representatives or associated persons,
  • 868 independent escrow agents,
  • 4,358 consumer and commercial finance lenders and 7358 locations,
  • 375 residential mortgage lenders or mortgage bankers, and
  • 463 deferred deposit originators at 2,494 locations