The Securities Commission was created by the 1917 legislature under an act "to prevent fraud in the sale and disposition of stocks, bonds, or other securities...within the state of Minnesota." Its main duty was to prevent "blue sky" speculation. It was composed of the attorney general, the state insurance commissioner, and the public examiner, with an executive secretary.
In 1921 a new Securities Commission was created (Laws 1921 c372), consisting of three commissioners with the same basic function of preventing the sale of unsound securities. It licensed firms to sell stocks and bonds, and issued warnings against frauds.
The Reorganization Act of 1925 abolished the Securities Commission, conferring part of its duties generally upon the newly-created Commerce Commission, and part specifically upon one of its members, the commissioner of securities.