Equity and debt-based crowdfunding (aka crowdfund investing) isn’t even live yet and State regulators, rather than engage in effective and productive dialogue with our industry on how to best protect investors, has chosen to continue its misinformation campaign by describing fraud that is NOT crowdfunding, as if it were crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding, as part of the JOBS Act – a bipartisan bill that was signed into law by President Obama on April 5, 2012, is in the 270-day rule-making period by the SEC. Sometime in 2013 when the SEC and FINRA finish their jobs, communities will be able to come together on SEC-registered platforms to invest in businesses that have been “crowd-checked” and “vetted” by investors using social media. Unless a fraud-free issuer (background checks are mandated) reaches 100% of her funding target no money is exchanged. However a recent Investment News story paints a shady picture.
In the article they point to two examples of issuers being cited by the Commonwealth Secretary of Massachusetts for fraud … neither of which are actually crowdfunding.
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