State securities regulation predates the creation of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by more than two decades.

Regulation of securities offerings and the licensing of broker-dealers and their agents by a state are governed by what is known as “blue sky” law. The term “blue sky” referred to speculative schemes that, in the words of a judge of the period, had no more substance that so many feet of “blue sky.” The first modern state blue sky law was adopted in 1911 in Kansas. The Kansas law served as the nationwide model for state securities regulation.

NASAA was organized in Kansas in 1919. The association operated a small business office in Topeka, Kansas, and hired its first executive director in 1983. NASAA moved its Corporate Office to Washington, D.C. in 1987.

NASAA is the oldest international investor protection organization. Today, NASAA membership consists of 67 state, provincial, and territorial securities administrators in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico.