Before 2013, issuers were prohibited from using any means of general solicitation or advertising when raising capital in the private markets. The prohibition was perceived by many to be the single biggest impediment to raising capital privately, particularly since it foreclosed the use of perhaps the greatest capital raising tool ever created: the Internet.
That all changed in 2013 when the Securities and Exchange Commission created new Rule 506(c) under the JOBS Act of 2012, which allowed companies for the first time ever to seek investors through general solicitation and advertising without registering with the SEC, so long as they sold only to accredited investors and used reasonable methods to verify accredited investor status.
So what are reasonable methods of verification? It clearly involves something more than what would meet the “reasonable belief” standard for determining accredited investor status for purposes of the 35 non-accredited investor cap for Rule 506(b) offerings, which as a practical matter means self-attestation through an investor questionnaire. That would not fly under Rule 506(c)’s reasonable verification method standard.Continue Reading (Minimum Investment) Size Matters, When it Comes to Rule 506(c) Verification
the rules governing exempt offerings (the “2020 Reforms”) to make it easier for issuers to move from one exemption to another, to bring clarity and consistency to the rules governing offering communications, to increase offering and investment limits and to harmonize certain disclosure requirements
pandemic because it allows companies to use the internet to solicit potential investors and not be restricted to accredited investors. But some of the requirements under Regulation Crowdfunding may diminish its utility for issuers with urgent capital needs as a result
restrictive rules governing exempt offerings have significantly limited their freedom to invest in private offerings and prevented or discouraged issuers from selling them privately offered securities. But in a recently issued 
major reasons, one of which has little or nothing to do with money. The first reason is that new securities offering legislation enacted in 2012 creates new legal capital raising pathways which allow developers for the first time to use the
outright ICO bans in 
Entrepreneurs. Although the thrust of the bill is focused on repeal or modification of significant portions of the Dodd-Frank