In a recent speech, NASAA President Heath Abshure, while expressing support for increased access to capital formation, noted NASAA’s concerns about civil remedies for investors, including investors that participate in crowdfunding. Abshure noted that “for crowdfunding to be successful, class action relief must be available to investors who are defrauded in an offering of crowdfunded… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Crowdfunding
JOBS Act at Year 1
Posted in Crowdfunding, Decimalization, Emerging Growth Company Status, Exchange Act Registration Thresholds, IPO On-Ramp, Private Placements, Regulation A+, Research, Rule 506 RulemakingAny milestone, such as an anniversary, provides an opportunity for reflection and evaluation. At the one-year anniversary of the JOBS Act, preliminary experience gives reason for some optimism. The centerpiece of the JOBS Act, the “IPO on-ramp” provisions contained in Title I, have proven quite useful. The SEC Staff’s guidance in the form of Frequently… Continue Reading
FundersClub Obtains Broker-Dealer Registration No-Action Relief
Posted in Broker-Dealer Registration, Crowdfunding, Private Placements, Rule 506 Rulemaking, SEC NewsOn March 26, 2013, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets provided no-action relief to FundersClub Inc. and FundersClub Management LLC, indicating that the Division would not recommend enforcement action under Section 15(a)(1) of the Exchange Act if FundersClub and FundersClub Management LLC operated a platform through which its members could participate in Rule 506… Continue Reading
SEC Investor Advisory Committee Meeting
Posted in SEC NewsOn January 18, 2013, the Investor Advisory Committee held its first meeting of the new year. SEC Chair Walters provided some opening remarks (seehttp://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2013/spch011813ebw.htm) in which she emphasized the Commission’s intentions of moving forward efficiently with the rulemaking required by Dodd-Frank and by the JOBS Act. She commented on the pace of change in the… Continue Reading
FINRA Launches Funding Portal Form
Posted in CrowdfundingAs we noted, last month FINRA’s Board of Governors authorized FINRA to issue an interim form to seek essential information from prospective funding portals intending to apply for membership with FINRA pursuant to the JOBS Act. FINRA has now announced the availability of the Interim Form for Funding Portals (“IFFP”), which is an online form… Continue Reading
FINRA 5123 Becomes Effective; FINRA Releases FAQs
Posted in Private PlacementsEarlier this week, FINRA Rule 5123 relating to private placements became effective, and FINRA released a set of FAQs (see http://www.finra.org/Industry/Compliance/RegulatoryFilings/PrivatePlacements/FAQ/index.htm) to provide market participants with additional guidance. The FAQs clarify that only private placements that are made to institutional accredited investors are exempt from the filing requirements, while those made to accredited investors that… Continue Reading
Investor Advisory Committee of the SEC
Posted in Crowdfunding, Rule 506 RulemakingOn Friday, September 28, 2012, the Dodd-Frank Investor Advisory Committee of the SEC met (see this agenda) and received an SEC Staff briefing on the JOBS Act. In connection with the Staff briefing, the Committee received an update from Jonathan Ingram, Deputy Chief Counsel and Lona Nallengara, Deputy Director (Legal and Regulatory) in the Division… Continue Reading
Yet Another Post-enactment JOBS Act Hearing
Posted in Crowdfunding, Private Placements, Regulation A+, Rule 506 RulemakingAmong the many distinctive aspects of the JOBS Act is that we could end up seeing more Congressional hearings on the JOBS Act after it was enacted than before it was enacted. The focus has now shifted from merits of the JOBS Act’s provisions to the pace at which those provisions are going into effect,… Continue Reading
Threat Level Orange
Posted in Crowdfunding, Rule 506 RulemakingThe state securities regulators, NASAA, just recently published their list of financial products that pose investor protection concerns. Not surprisingly given the level of rhetoric from the states, crowdfunding and internet-based offers of securities are at the top of the list of “new threats” to investors. The state securities regulators caution that once JOBS Act… Continue Reading
FINRA Joins the Crowd: Request for Comment on Crowdfunding
Posted in CrowdfundingToday, FINRA published Notice 12-34 requesting public comment on the scope of FINRA regulation that would be appropriate for member firms active in crowdfunding offerings. This is a welcome request, as it confirms FINRA’s role as the SRO with oversight over funding portals (which are not broker-dealers), and also seems to recognize that regulation of funding portals should… Continue Reading