Politics, Legal & Regulation

November 27, 2013 @ 11:00 am By Charles Luzar  |  

A state senator in Alabama is proposing a crowdfunding exemption at the state level that aims to allow Alabama entrepreneurs to crowdfund from Alabama investors. Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) has proposed the bill. State Securities Commissioner Joseph Borg is cited by Senator Orr as being… Read More

November 25, 2013 @ 5:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC hosted the Small Business Capital Formation Forum this past week on November 21, 2013.  This was the 32nd forum which has been held annually since 1982. The event provides small businesses, their advisors and their investors the opportunity to share their perspectives on… Read More

November 24, 2013 @ 3:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Global law firm Seyfarth Shaw recently gave a presentation reviewing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed regulations regarding Title III of the JOBs Act – specifically “retail” or “popular” crowdfunding.  These proposed regulations are now accepting comments on the SEC web site. While these… Read More

November 24, 2013 @ 11:10 am By JD Alois  |  

The newest SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein presented a speech to the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section’s Federal Regulation Committee Fall meeting on November 22, 2013 in Washington, DC.  The presentation, while wide in scope, did touch on important regulatory issues such as… Read More

November 21, 2013 @ 8:00 am By Charles Luzar  |  

PitchBook just posted footage of a short interview with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. This interview took place on the same day that Gov. Walker signed a Wisconsin intrastate crowdfunding exemption into law. The original article on PitchBook’s blog expands upon the legislation and compares it… Read More

November 20, 2013 @ 7:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

The below info graphic is courtesy of BoardSuite which is a Canada based ecosystem which provides corporate governance services in a secure platform.  Investment crowdfunding is different in Canada in comparison to the United States.  Each Province has securities regulators which control the regulatory process… Read More

November 20, 2013 @ 2:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

Equity crowdfunding platform SeedInvest, which currently offers investments in startups for accredited investors, has put together an estimated cost spread sheet if Title III Crowdfunding regulations were applied today.  The results show a detrimental process for small companies attempting to raise capital.  In fact for… Read More

November 19, 2013 @ 9:42 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R-57) was one of the sponsors of a bill in Michigan aimed at creating an intrastate crowdfunding exemption, enabling Michigan businesses to raise money from non-accredited Michigan investors in equity rounds. In this short video provided by the Michigan House GOP, Rep…. Read More

November 17, 2013 @ 8:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a document published recently by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) in Canada, the provincial regulators appear to address the issue of crowdfunding and its legality in the province.  Unlike the United States where the federal regulators have jurisdiction over regulating crowdfunding nationwide, the Canadian… Read More

November 17, 2013 @ 1:57 pm By Francis Moran  |  

The biggest mistake Canadian angel investors could make if and when equity crowdfunding is made more widely available in Canada “is to sit on the sidelines and do nothing and let crowdfunding pass them by,” says one of this country’s leading legal experts on the… Read More

November 16, 2013 @ 10:55 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Central Falls, Rhode Island is “the smallest city in the smallest state” in the United States, but it is a densely populated city; it’s comprised of nearly 20,000 residents in an area of about one square mile. Central Falls fell on hard times in the… Read More

November 15, 2013 @ 2:01 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

We’re beginning to get a better picture of what the long-rumored secondary JOBS Act bill may look like, thanks at least in part to recent remarks by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. The full video is below… Of note is… Read More

November 13, 2013 @ 3:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Small Business Forum is an annual event, open to the public, which is held at the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The SEC has announced this year’s official agenda and current list of panelists. The Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation will begin on… Read More

November 8, 2013 @ 7:11 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

On the Proposed SEC Regulations & Crowdfunding – A Postscript. Behind the unanimous vote that accompanied the SEC’s issuance of proposed crowdfunding regulations on October 23, 2013, I sensed that there was more afoot behind the congenial surface.  It seemed unlikely to this Commission observer… Read More

November 7, 2013 @ 7:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a speech given to the FIA Futures and Options Expo in Chicago, SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher made some interesting comments regarding a “the need for a fundamental, holistic review of equity market structure. And I’d like to focus on the specific issue of… Read More

November 7, 2013 @ 6:00 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Today Governor Scott Walker signed Rep. David Craig’s CASE (crowdfunding and securities exemptions) for Jobs Act (2013 Wisconsin Act 52) into law, putting Wisconsin in an innovative group of states leading the way in expanding access to small business capital. In response, Rep. Craig (R-Town… Read More

November 7, 2013 @ 11:00 am By JD Alois  |  

UK Program, Used by Crowfunding Platforms,  Dramatically Encourages Investments in Small Businesses. Her Majesty’s Treasury has released some initial results from their Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) which is a widely used tax incentive on UK based equity crowdfunding platforms.  The HM Majesty’s early data… Read More

November 7, 2013 @ 10:41 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Michigan legislators are trying to get a state crowdfunding exemption onto the governor’s desk by the end of the year. This week they came one step closer to achieving that goal as the bill passed the house unanimously, continuing a trend of bipartisan support for… Read More

November 5, 2013 @ 11:35 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The proposed rules for equity crowdfunding hit the Federal Register today, which means that the 90 day public comment period for crowdfunding effectively began today. (Despite the fact that comments have been collected up to this point.) The comment period will run until February 3rd,… Read More

November 4, 2013 @ 8:00 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

(Editors Note: The content below was corrected to reflect text included in the original article that was not clearly attributed to Dara Albright.) There was an air of euphoria in the crowdfunding community on October 23 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally issued… Read More