The Capital Markets Subcommittee, part of the House Financial Services Committee, is holding a hearing today (February 26, 2025) at 10 AM ET. Entitled The Future of American Capital: Strengthening Public and Private Markets by Increasing Investor Access and Facilitating Capital Formation, the hearing will address both sides of the innovation economy equation, access to capital, and access to opportunity for all investors. Representative Ann Wagner chairs the Subcommittee.
Part of the discussion will involve the JOBS Act, the legislation that legalized online capital formation or investment crowdfunding. This law legalized the ability to advertise a security offering, thus expanding the ability of firms to raise money online.
The Committee states that the hearing “will examine the critical role of capital formation in driving economic growth.” Supporting smaller firms and entrepreneurs is vital to having a robust economy. To accomplish this mission, barriers to funding must be reduced and everyone must have the opportunity to participate in the success of capitalism. While during the past four years, support of smaller firms took a back seat to big government and more rules, with the Republicans in charge of both the legislative and executive, the government holds a unique opportunity to support an innovation-driven economy while helping underserved markets benefit.
Testifying today includes the following witnesses:
- Andrew Barnell, CEO and co-founder, Geneoscopy
- McKeever Conwell, founder and Managing Partner, RareBreed Ventures
- Rebecca Kacaba, CEO and co-founder of DealMaker
- Anna Pinedo, Partner, Mayer Brown
- Alexandra Thornton, Senior Director, Financial Regulation, Center for American Progress
The hearing includes a litany of bills designed to support both smaller investors and smaller firms. The list is long, and they are outlined below.
You may livestream the hearing here.
- H.R.__, the Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act
- H.R.__, the Accredited Investor Definition Review Act
- H.R.__, the Improving Access to Small Business Information Act
- H.R.__, the Small Entity Update Act
- H.R.__, the Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Encouraging Public Offerings Act of 2025
- H.R.__, a bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify certain registration statement contents for emerging growth companies, to permit issuers to file draft registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for confidential review, and for other purposes
- H.R.__, a bill to amend the Federal securities laws to specify the periods for which financial statements are required to be provided by an emerging growth company, and for other purposes
- H.R.__, the Enhancing Multi-Class Share Disclosures Act
- H.R.__, the Senior Security Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Middle Market IPO Underwriting Cost Act
- H.R.__, the Promoting Opportunities for Non-Traditional Capital Formation Act
- H.R.__, the Improving Disclosures for Investors Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Increasing Investor Opportunities Act
- H.R.__, the Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act of 2025
- H.R.__, Remove Aberrations in the Market CAP Test for Target Company Financial Statements
- H.R.__, the Helping Startups Continue to Grow Act
- H.R.__, SEC and PCAOB Auditor Requirements for Newly Public Companies
- H.R.__, Expands Protections for Research Reports to Cover All Securities of All Issuers
- H.R.__, a bill to exclude QIBs and IAIs From the Record Holder Count for Mandatory Registration
- H.R.__, a bill to expand WKSI Eligibility
- H.R.__, Smaller Reporting Company, Accelerated Filer, and Large Accelerated Filer Thresholds
- H.R.__, Unlocking Capital for Small Businesses Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Small Business Investor Capital Access Act
- H.R.__, the Improving Capital Allocation for Newcomers (ICAN) Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Small Entrepreneurs Empowerment and Development (SEED) Act of 2025
- H.R.__, Regulation A+ Improvement Act of 2025
- H.R.__, the Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders (DEAL) Act
- H.R.__, Improving Crowdfunding Opportunities Act
- H.R.__, Amendment for Crowdfunding Capital Enhancement and Small-business Support (ACCESS) Act of 2025
- H.R.__, Restoring Secondary Trading Market Act
- H.R.__, Risk Disclosure and Investor Attestation Act
- H.R.__, Investment Opportunity Expansion Act
- H.R.__, Accredited Investors Include Individuals Receiving Advice from Certain Professionals Act
- H.R.__, To permit a registered investment company to omit certain fees from the calculation of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, and for other purposes