Securities fraud cases may involve both federal and state laws. State securities laws usually have two basic requirements. First, state laws govern the registration of securities, as well as the registration and supervision of securities professionals. State authorities typically also have power under their laws to enforce securities laws, although, as a practical matter, many such enforcement actions are left to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Each state has a separate regularly agency that is in charge of registering securities and securities professionals. These state agencies may be independent state securities commissions or simply divisions of larger state financial services departments. State agencies may be run by appointed government officials or certain government employees. In most cases, an issuer of securities must register the securities with the appropriate state agency prior to making them available for sale. Historically, state securities regulation agencies operated under a "merit" regulation system, which allowed the agencies wide discretion in determining which securities were permitted to be registered. Today, however, most state agencies no longer use a merit regulation system based on subjective criteria; rather, the trend is toward a disclosure-based regulation system that permits registration so long as certain disclosures are made and requirements met, which is more similar to the federal securities regulation system.