Politics, Legal & Regulation

March 8, 2015 @ 8:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

The state of California nearly enacted their own intrastate exemption late last year but politics got in the way of things and the bill ended up withering in a committee. One local crowdfunding advocate shared an update on AB 722; “I hear the forces are… Read More

March 7, 2015 @ 4:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

During the gathering of the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies (ACSEC) considerable time was spent discussing secondary markets and venture exchanges.  This is an area that has captured the attention of SEC Chair Mary Jo White.  Having the SEC Chair as a… Read More

March 7, 2015 @ 12:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a speech presented at the Stanford Law School, SEC Commissioner Kara Stein delivered a lecture clearly designed to cater to the audience. Entitled “Supporting Innovation Through the Commission’s Mission to Facilitate Capital Formation” the presentation noted that the SEC’s mission is not defined as supporting innovation… Read More

March 6, 2015 @ 12:07 pm By Charles Kaufman and Jor Law   |  

This article is part one, of a two part discussion, on Identifying Bad Actors for private placements. In 2010, as part of the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Congress adopted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While most of… Read More

March 6, 2015 @ 9:02 am By JD Alois  |  

Steve Case, a staunch proponent of investment crowdfunding and advocate of access to capital for SMEs, called out billionaire pundit Mark Cuban on CNBC this morning. Ostensibly the discussion was on the Tech Bubble “Yes or No” polemic but discourse ended up being a bit… Read More

March 5, 2015 @ 11:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The National Development Council (NDC) of Taiwan is pushing forward with investment crowdfunding. According to a report in the Taipei Times, crowdfunding platforms will allow investors to purchase stakes in startups and small companies as soon as May of this year. “Startups are the fruits… Read More

March 5, 2015 @ 11:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Online finance has been booming in China.  Today the country claims to be the largest market in the world for peer to peer lending with an estimate value of $18 billion for 2014. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened their meeting in the… Read More

March 5, 2015 @ 7:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

The state of Massachusetts, under the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, enacted “emergency” crowdfunding regulations this past January. Secretary William Galvin, previously identified as highly skeptical of investment crowdfunding having vocally criticized the new form of finance, surprised industry followers when the rules… Read More

March 4, 2015 @ 4:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

David Weild, former Vice Chair of Nasdaq and current CEO of IssuWorks, delivered a presentation to the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies that addressed the issue of venture exchanges.  The need for a venture exchange has recently percolated up in discussion as… Read More

March 4, 2015 @ 12:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies tackled the highly contentious issue of state Blue Sky Review preemption today regarding Title IV of the JOBS Act. Commonly called Reg A+, the SEC has recommended pre-empting state review as it is widely understood to have… Read More

March 4, 2015 @ 10:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies has voted on, and approved, recommendations on the definition of an accredited investor.  As it stands today the definition is guided by economic parameters: an individual must earn $200,000 per year or have a net worth… Read More

March 4, 2015 @ 8:17 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Alright so maybe “all hail” might be a little much but cut me some slack, I’m excited. After more than a year of lobbying, campaigning and pounding the pavement Illinois finally has a filed intrastate crowdfunding exemption bill. Well, that’s not entirely true … Illinois… Read More

March 3, 2015 @ 5:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies will meet Wednesday, March 4th beginning at 9:30AM. The meeting is open to the public and is being held at the SEC offices in Washington, DC.  The gathering will also be live-streamed and viewable on the… Read More

March 3, 2015 @ 4:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

A new survey from the Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) indicates that consumers “overwhelmingly” believe that peer-to-peer lending should be separated from traditional Cash or Stocks & Shares ISAs.  According to the P2PFA, the group polled over 4500 p2p investors regarding their preferences. This information comes… Read More

March 3, 2015 @ 1:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

SeedInvest, a widely respected investment crowdfunding platform that operates under Title II accredited crowdfunding (for now), has just submitted a comment letter to the Securities Exchange Commission pleading with the agency to “keep Title III crowdfunding simple”. The JOBS Act was signed into law almost… Read More

March 2, 2015 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

At the end of 2014, Robert Steinhoff, a JD candidate at the University of Colorado Law School, published a comment on the investment crowdfunding environment in the UK drawing a parallel to what could occur in the United States. The interesting thesis recognized the UK… Read More

March 2, 2015 @ 7:59 am By JD Alois  |  

Jeremy Rifkin delivered the opening keynote address today at the European Investment Bank (EIB) conference on “Momentum for Europe—Innovation and Competitiveness. Rifkin presented a “new plan” for the next stage of the European evolution that incorporated the build-out and scale-up of an Internet of Things… Read More

March 1, 2015 @ 9:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfund Insider reported last week on the push within the EU to further capital markets integration in light of the daunting challenges of a fragmented regulatory regime and cross border idiosyncrasies.  The European Commission was envisioned as a seamless market facilitating continent wide economic amalgamation…. Read More

February 28, 2015 @ 11:19 am By JD Alois  |  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) continues to lobby the SEC aggressively in their attempt to obstruct removal of Blue Sky Review under Title IV of the JOBS Act.  NASAA is a special interest group that represents state securities regulators and advocates on behalf… Read More

February 27, 2015 @ 3:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC has shared the agenda for the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Small & Emerging Companies.  This committee was recently re-animated by SEC Chair Mary Jo White.  The Committee provides insight and advice to the SEC on privately held small businesses and publicly… Read More