New York arguably has one of the most aggressive securities laws in the nation, in terms of investigating New York securities fraud. New York's securities laws are contained within Martin Act, a state "blue-sky" law that was passed in 1921. The Martin Act gives New York's Attorney General almost unfettered discretion to conduct investigations into financial and securities fraud-related matters. No other state law gives such discretionary authority to a state official. For example, if a person is called in for questioning by the Attorney General pursuant to the Martin Act, he or she has no right to counsel during the questioning, and no rights against self-discrimination. Likewise, a person or company may be charged with violating state securities laws even if there is no proof of intent to defraud. Rather, in order to demonstrate a violation of the Martin Act, the Attorney General need only show that there was a misrepresentation or omission of a material fact relevant to the sale of securities.