About Us!
The Mission of the California Department of Corporations:
- Ensure an efficient and accessible financial services marketplace in California,
- Educate the public about the risks and rewards in investing and finances, and
- 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.
Organization of the Department of Corporations
The Department of Corporations is comprised of the Executive Office and three Operational Divisions.
The Executive Office:
The Executive Office of the California Corporations Commissioner is responsible for the uniform administration of the Commissioner's statutory authority and for the formulation of policy for the Department
The Office of Legislation and Policy is responsible for ensuring consistent interpretation and application of laws administered and enforced by the Department. Representing the Commissioner and the Department before various public and private agencies and organizations, the Office of Law and Legislation also serves as the liaison of intergovernmental affairs and the contact for law and legislative matters.
The Office of Management & Budget maintains management, resources and fiscal uniformity across the operational lines of all other programs within the Department.
The Operational Divisions
The Financial Services Division is responsible for the regulation of lenders and certain fiduciaries.
The Securities Regulation Division is responsible for responsible for the qualification of the offer and sale of securities and the licensing and regulation of broker-dealers, broker-dealer agents, investment advisers, and investment adviser representatives pursuant to the Corporate Securities Law of 1968. SRD also registers the offer and sale of franchises under the Franchise Investment Law and licenses capital access companies under the Capital Access Company Law.
The Enforcement Division and is responsible for enforcing the laws under the Investment and Lender-Fiduciary Programs administered by the Department of Corporations.
The California Department of Corporations by the Numbers
Since 2001, the Department has compelled finance lenders and mortgage bankers to make over $63 Million in refunds to consumers.
The Department has authority over finance lenders and brokers who, in 2007, made or assisted in the making of about $202.4 billion in consumer and commercial finance loans. The Department also regulates mortgage bankers who made $103 billion in home loans to Californians in 2007, and who serviced $611 billion in home loans during that year.
Since 2001, the Department has brought approximately 5,639 enforcement actions against people or companies perpetrating frauds, making misrepresentations, and pursuing predatory practices.
The Department regulates over 323,150 entities, including:
- 3,405 broker-dealers,
- 259,207 agents or registered representatives,
- 3,070 investment advisers,
- 46,510 investment adviser representatives or associated persons,
- 835 independent escrow agents,
- 3,275 consumer and commercial finance lenders and 5,618 locations,
- 298 residential mortgage lenders or mortgage bankers, and
- 403 deferred deposit originators at 2,300 locations