NASAA Seeks to Harmonize State, Federal Rules on Advisor Marketing

by Miriam Rozen

July 31, 2025

The membership organization for state securities agencies unveiled a plan on Tuesday to align states’ marketing rules for investment advisors with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The North American Securities Administrators Association said it is seeking comment on a model rule that states can adopt to make their rules for advisor marketing uniform.

“Consistency among state and federal securities laws is paramount,” NASAA said in its posted notice seeking the comment on the proposed changes to four rules related to investment adviser advertising.

So far, 26 states have modernized their rulebooks to conform with the SEC’s 2020 updates, according to a database maintained by Wealthtender. The SEC rule, which took effect in 2022, permitted advisors to use testimonials, endorsements, third-party ratings and performance reports as long as they met pre-set conditions.

“These proposed amendments reflect NASAA’s efforts to provide a model for updates to state investment adviser advertising rules based in part on changes made by the SEC to marketing rules for SEC-registered advisers,” NASAA President Leslie Van Buskirk said in a statement.

The comment period for the proposed rule will be open until August 28.

While some states believed that activities allowed by the SEC should still be prohibited, there was a general consensus that “consistency among state and federal securities laws is paramount,” according to NASAA’s proposal.

Investor advocates welcomed the push to harmonize.

“NASAA’s proposed amendments to its investment adviser marketing model rule are a meaningful step toward regulatory consistency,” Adam Gana, the managing partner of the Gana Law Firm in Chicago and president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, said in an email. “Aligning state and federal standards can reduce confusion for advisers and investors alike.”

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