Politics, Legal & Regulation

June 4, 2013 @ 2:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

The White House honors Andrea Seabrook today as one of twelve people who are Crowdfunding “Champions of Change.”  Andrea founded DeCodeDC which is a public radio show and podcast with an unwavering commitment to integrity and exceptional journalism, DecodeDC focuses on Washington’s dysfunction, corruption, and negligence… Read More

June 3, 2013 @ 7:23 pm By Entrepreneur  |  

In 2010 Sherwood “Woodie” Neiss was trying to raise capital for his latest business concept, a data-polling app for smartphones. He had a track record as CFO of FlavoRx–an award-winning medicine-flavoring company he co-founded in 1999 and sold eight years later–and his new idea had won him a… Read More

June 3, 2013 @ 8:29 am By LeMonde  |  

As everyone knows, the current recession is more tolerable than the one in 2008 and France will soon be better, the unemployment curve is going to reverse and confidence will return . But beyond the “wishful thinking” and hype, there is no urgency to continue and expand the structural reforms in favor of growth? Naturally. Among… Read More

May 23, 2013 @ 7:00 am By Dominique Litmaath River  |  

Crowdfunding has taken the world by storm and the United Kingdom has been a leader in many regards.  It is not just the realm of the ubiquitous reward sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo – each on a path for global expansion – but in investment… Read More

May 22, 2013 @ 10:14 pm By Techonomy  |  

When the JOBS Act was signed into law, its knotty crowdfunding provisions quickly became a source of consternation for the SEC. More than one year later, the law continues to languish, as the SEC moves slowly to implement its two most important provisions. One would enable general advertising for… Read More

May 20, 2013 @ 8:24 am By JD Alois  |  

French Crowdfunding Guide Released. The government of France has released a guide to crowdfunding.  Pierre Moscovici, Minister of Economy and Finance; Arnaud Montebourg, Minister of Productive Recovery, and Fleur Pellerin, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprise, have jointly announced the publication  of the Guide du… Read More

May 18, 2013 @ 3:33 am By PEHub  |  

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)’s recent consultation on crowdfunding options received “favourable comments” reports law firm Osler Hoskin & Harcourt. Osler noted 100 responses to the OSC, most of which supported its crowdfunding exemption proposal, though some had concerns about investor-protection issues. With respect to… Read More

May 14, 2013 @ 9:55 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Yesterday a group of GOP lawmakers including Representative Patrick McHenry sent a letter to newly minted SEC chairman Mary Jo White. The letter urges timely implementation of Section 201 of the JOBS Act, which calls for the removal of the ban on general solicitation for… Read More

May 13, 2013 @ 10:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Vocal British business advocate Lord Young has published another report championing the cause of business and more specifically the importance of small businesses. Lord Young has been involved in several successful businesses and held multiple government positions where he has tirelessly promoted the importance of… Read More

May 12, 2013 @ 10:30 am By Philly.com  |  

(We) find it impressive that three Philly 50 companies – which tend to be large, established companies – went public in 2012. Epam Systems Inc., Five Below Inc., and Globus Medical Inc. are fairly young companies that spent years preparing for Wall Street-underwritten initial public… Read More

May 9, 2013 @ 9:57 am By Crowd Valley Blog  |  

AngelList and FundersClub both recently requested and received “no action” relief from the SEC staff. “No action” letters are often complicated and the law surrounding the discussion is extremely opaque. We have sought to set out the implications of the relief granted by the staff… Read More

May 7, 2013 @ 6:00 am By JD Alois  |  

In two recent no-action letters the SEC granted exemptive relief from broker dealer registration to crowdfunding sites accepting only pre-screened accredited investors on the basis that the platforms received carried interest rather than transaction based compensation. According to securities attorney Simon Riveles of Riveles Law Group,… Read More

May 4, 2013 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC yesterday announced the release of the final report from their Forum on Small Business Capital Formation for 2012.  The Forum included discussions regarding the implementation of the Jobs Act and elements of crowdfunding.  The announcement was distributed by Chief of the Office of… Read More

May 4, 2013 @ 11:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube was honored to have their CEO and Co-Founder Darren Westlake be the keynote speaker at the House of Lords on Monday 29 April.  Hosted by Lord Erroll, Chairman of the All-Party group for Entrepreneurship,  the event included a round table discussion which… Read More

May 4, 2013 @ 6:20 am By The Boston Globe  |  

For $100, Micah Lubens bought a share of a vacant, two-story brick building that was promoted as the next up-and-coming hot spot along Washington D.C.’s bustling H Street corridor. Through food blogs, Lubens learned of plans to transform the building into a minireplica of Asian… Read More

May 3, 2013 @ 8:05 am By JD Alois  |  

Boosting Crowdfunding Part of European Policy In a speech delivered in Amsterdam to the ‘Europioneers’ European Tech Entrepreneur of the Year Awards ceremony, Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission for Digital Agenda, made pointed comments pertaining to the European economic struggle, Today Europe is… Read More

May 1, 2013 @ 5:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC held another scheduled meeting, which was open to the public, regarding small and emerging companies including the Jobs Act and elements of crowdfunding. The presenters included Robert Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of NASDAQ OMX Group, William R. Hambrecht, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of… Read More

April 30, 2013 @ 10:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

Steve Case, Jobs Act / Crowdfunding supporter, is participating in the Milken Institute Global conference, talks about the importance of entrepreneurship. He also mentions immigration reform which is a current topic in congress.

April 30, 2013 @ 6:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ), Chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations, spoke at last week’s Angel Capital Association (ACA) Summit in San Francisco on key issues for the early stage investing community. The 2013 ACA Summit was the largest ever worldwide… Read More

April 29, 2013 @ 5:09 pm By VentureBeat  |  

Crowdfunding has once again become a hot topic in the financial world, given the recent one-year anniversary of the JOBS Act on April 5. The JOBS Act legalized equity- and debt-based crowdfunding in the U.S. However the SEC has missed congressionally mandated deadlines to complete… Read More