Bloomberg is reporting that newly minted SEC Chairman Mary Jo White is pushing to lift the ban on general solicitation. From the article…
White, who became SEC chairman on April 10, has suggested the commission pass the existing plan without major changes and add additional protections later, said the people, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private. The approach would placate congressional Republicans who have complained the SEC has slow-walked the rule, which was required to be completed by July 2012.
Approving the regulation would allow White to make good on a promise she made in her Senate confirmation hearing to prioritize rules mandated by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which was designed to boost capital-raising and job creation. At the same time, it could anger advocates for small investors and at least one Democratic commissioner.
One of the advocates for small investors noted in the article is Barbara Roper of the Consumer Federation of America, who is at least partially responsible for the now-infamous email that persuaded Mary Schapiro to stop plans to lift the ban months ago.
“It would be a very bad sign — a cause for grave concern about the substance of the issue and process of how investor protection concerns are addressed,” Barbara Roper, director investor protection at the Washington-based Consumer Federation of America, said in a phone interview.
We will continue to monitor progress toward the implementation of TItle II.
