A new Florida law meant to protect residents from investment fraud inadvertently barred nearly every major bank from conducting securities business in the state, halting transactions on corporate bonds and private shares for four weeks.
The law, which took effect Oct. 1, was designed to ease fundraising for startups while blocking criminal actors from the investment space. However, because of how the law was written, it appeared to prohibit banks penalized by regulators like the SEC from selling securities.
