The Securities and Exchange Commission filed the new Regulation A rules associated with Title IV of the JOBS Act. The “Proposed Rule Amendments for Small and Additional Issues Exemptions Under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act” were published today thus starting the countdown for the comment period for rules proposed on December 18. The commenting period is scheduled to end in 60 days.
Comments regarding what has been dubbed Reg A+ started to be posted on the SEC web site the same day the opportunity was available with the State of Massachusetts filing a comment letter in opposition to much of the proposed changes. Since that letter posting only three other comment letters have been posted.
Crowdfund Insider columnist Sam Guzik published a comprehensive review of the proposed changes which was posted both on this site and a Harvard Law Forum blog. In Guzik’s article the proposed changes were broadly embraced as beneficial to small businesses and addressing the widely acknowledged deficiencies in the existing Regulation A rules. In contrast comments by State of Massachusetts condemned much of the proposed changes. A more recent comment letter from an Attorney which is providing feedback to the NASAA has expressed concern regarding the definition of qualified purchaser and exempting states blue sky review of these offerings.
Regulation A in its current form has been lightly utilized. In years 2010 and 2011 there were only 8 qualified initial Regulation A offerings. In comparison during the same period there were over 15,500 initial Regulation D filings for up to $5 million.
H/T Sam Guzik.