Gov. Mark Sanford signed into law Wednesday morning a bill to protect South Carolinians from securities fraud. The law gives the State Grand Jury the power to investigate securities violations, authority it did not have before. That can make a difference in a case because the State Grand Jury has unlimited subpoena power to force people to testify or turn over records.

The law came about after news of the Carolina Investors bankruptcy, in which some 8,000 South Carolina investors lost millions of dollars. Sen. Larry Martin was the main sponsor of the bill. News Channel 7 asked him what, if anything, the new law will do for the people who lost money with Carolina Investors? "It helps to get answers. It helps to uncover, if there was any wrongdoing, uncover that and hopefully help us correct the mistakes that were made here or the wrongdoing that was made here, if that indeed is the case," he says.

The law also raises fees that securities brokers and dealers pay, with that money helping to police the industry. The state Attorney General’s office will get $1 million a year from that, and the State Law Enforcement Division will get $200,000 a year to beef up their securities investigation and prosecution divisions. Attorney General Henry McMaster says the money will triple the strength of his securities section.

So will the law prevent problems, or just identify and prosecute wrongdoers after people have already lost their money? "Well, it’s both," says McMaster. "I believe that the presence of a strong regulatory and investigative force to investigate improprieties, fraud and to see that things are done right does keep things happening properly."

The new law took effect as soon as the governor signed it Wednesday morning. The first case the State Grand Jury will begin investigating is Carolina Investors.