Traditionally, when raising capital, an overwhelming majority of businesses have used Rule 506 of Regulation D, also often known as the “private placement exemption” as their exemption from securities registration requirements. In recent years, Congress, the SEC, and state regulators have enacted a number of alternative exemptions designed to make capital formation easier for growing businesses, such as equity crowdfunding and “mini-IPOs,” as well as made refinements to existing exemptions, such as Rule 147 (intrastate offerings) and Rule 504. In this post, I’ll provide an overview of these newer options. [Read more…]
Regulation A Archives
Frequently Asked Questions about Regulation A+
Back in March, I wrote about proposed revisions to Regulation A, commonly known as “Regulation A+”, which were designed to implement Section 401 of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act). Since then, the SEC issued its final rule, which went into effect earlier in the month. Back in March, I had two main thoughts regarding the proposed rule. First, by proposing that Regulation A+ offerings preempt state registration requirements, the SEC had proposed a securities exemption that may actually prove useful and had a chance to be used in the real world (as opposed to the old Regulation A, which was rarely used). While this aspect of the proposed rule would be attractive to companies raising capital, it would also be controversial with state regulators and investor advocates, so I was concerned that in the final rule preemption of state laws would be rolled back. Second, I was concerned that companies that used Regulation A+ would likely be subject to ongoing Securities Exchange Act reporting (as a fully public company would be), which would reduce the attractiveness of the exemption. [Read more…]
Is it time for the JOBS Act, Part Two?
When the JOBS Act was passed, a lot of people hoped that it would de-regulate startup finance, resulting in a boom of new startups being funded. Through repealing the ban on general solicitation, allowing online angel investment platforms, creating the new “Regulation A+,” and allowing equity crowdfunding, the JOBS Act was supposed to make funding startups considerably easier. But there have been some significant bumps in the road. First, in my view, the equity crowdfunding exemption that was included in the bill was unworkable from the beginning. That continues to be true under the crowdfunding regulations proposed by the SEC and of course the SEC has yet to adopt final equity crowdfunding regulations (which means that equity crowdfunding is still largely prohibited for non-accredited investors). While the SEC finally did implement the lifting of the ban on general solicitation by creating the new Rule 506(c), it also has proposed new onerous rules governing its use (as well as the use of the existing Rule 506(b)). The SEC has proposed implementing regulations for Regulation A+, but has not adopted final regulations, which means that the exemption still cannot be used. In addition, the SEC is getting pushback from state securities regulators on the proposed Regulation A+ on the issue of preempting state registration requirements, which may result in the removal of preemption from the final regulations (which would make the exemption considerably less useful). Furthermore, since Regulation A+ investors would be counted as shareholders for purposes of triggering reporting under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), as the proposed rules are currently written, any use of the exemption would also likely trigger expensive Exchange Act reporting requirements. [Read more…]
SEC’s Reg. A+ Proposal Has the Potential to Actually Be Useful
On December 13, 2013, the SEC issued a proposed rule, which contains a draft of the long-awaited regulations implementing Section 401 of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), creating a new securities registration exemption commonly known as “Reg. A+.” [Read more…]
The JOBS Act, a Year Later – Part 6: Regulation A+
This post is the sixth in a series examining the impact of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (or JOBS Act) one year after its passage and focuses on the provision instructing the SEC to create a new securities registration exemption commonly known as “Regulation A+.”
Previously in this series, I discussed the progress of implementing the JOBS Act, specifically Titles I, II, and III. In this sixth post, I will continue that discussion by focusing on Title IV, which creates a new exemption from the federal securities registration requirement for certain public offerings in an amount of up to $50 million. This new exemption is based upon an exemption that currently already exists (but is rarely used) called Regulation A. [Read more…]