Trust Indenture Act of 1939

A law passed in 1939 that prohibits bond issues valued at over $5 million from being offered for sale without a formal written agreement (an indenture), signed by both the bond issuer and the bondholder, that fully discloses the particulars of the bond issue. The act also requires that a trustee be appointed for all bond issues, so that the rights of bondholders are not compromised. 



|||The Trust Indenture Act of 1939 was passed for the protection of bond investors. In the event that a bond issuer becomes insolvent, the appointed trustee may be given the right to seize the bond issuer's assets and sell them in order to recoup the bondholders' investments.