On March 22, the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment of the Financial Services Committee conducted a hearing entitled “The JOBS Act at Five: Examining Its Impact and Ensuring the Competitiveness of the U.S. Capital Markets”, focusing on the impact of the JOBS Act on the U.S. capital markets and its effect on capital
House Passes Watered Down “Fix Crowdfunding Act”
On July 5, the House of Representatives passed a watered down version of the Fix Crowdfunding Act (the “FCA”) that was initially introduced in March. The bill seeks to amend Title III of the JOBS Act by expressly permitting “crowdfunding vehicles” and broadening the SEC registration exclusion, but leaves out three important reforms that were
Title III Crowdfunding Goes Live Today with Much Potential, but Different Reality
Ever since the Federal securities laws were enacted in 1933, all offers and sales of securities in the United States had to either be registered with the SEC or satisfy an exemption from registration. The commonly used private offering exemption, however, prohibited any act of general solicitation. The JOBS Act of 2012 created a new
Fix Crowdfunding Act Would Cure Title III Crowdfunding Ills
Beginning on May 16, issuers for the first time will be able to offer and sell securities online to anyone, not just accredited investors, without
registering with the SEC. The potential here is breathtaking. Some $30 trillion dollars are said to be stashed away in long-term investment accounts of non-accredited investors; if only 1% of
Working the Crowd: A Primer for Funding Portals
One of the key investor protections of Regulation Crowdfunding under JOBS Act Title III is the
requirement that offerings must be conducted exclusively through a single platform operated by a registered broker-dealer or a new type of SEC registrant, a funding portal. Although SEC registration for funding portals began January 29, 2016, intermediaries (funding portals
Regulation Crowdfunding Effective Date is May 16, 2016
It’s official: the new Regulation Crowdfunding rules will become effective on May 16, 2016. The SEC’s 
final rules release of October 31, 2015 provided that, with certain exceptions, the new rules will go into effect 180 days after they are published in the Federal Register. We just learned that the rules were published in
Trick or Treat? SEC Adopts Controversial Crowdfunding Rules
At an open meeting on October 30, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission by a three-to-one vote adopted final rules for equity crowdfunding under Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act of 1933, as mandated by Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act. The final rules and forms are effective 180 days after publication
What’s the Deal with Online Funding Platforms?
Lately I’ve been approached by current and prospective clients about 
online funding platforms, either by folks interested in forming and operating them or those interested in raising capital through them. There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding how they work and what the legal issues are, so here’s my attempt to bring some
New Regulation A+ Published in Federal Register — Will Become Effective June 19
The Regulation A amendments adopted by the Securities Exchange Commission on March 25 are 
being published tomorrow, April 20, in the Federal Register. That means the final rules and form amendments will officially become effective on June 19, 2015 (by rule, 60 days after such publication).
The new Regulation A, referred to widely as
FINRA Priorities for 2014: IPOs, General Solicitation, Crowdfunding Portals and Microcap Fraud
On January 2, 2014, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) published its annual priorities letter for 
2014, chief among which will be IPOs, general solicitation in private offerings, crowdfunding portals and microcap fraud.
IPOs
In the area of IPOs, FINRA intends to focus on “spinning,” a practice in which an underwriter allocates “hot” IPO shares