Politics, Legal & Regulation

February 13, 2013 @ 8:25 am By JD Alois  |  

  Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com   Daniel Gorfine, Director, Financial Markets Policy and Legal Council at the Milken Institute, was interviewed yesterday on Fox Business regarding the Jobs Act and crowdfunding.  If you have 6 minutes the interview is worth watching.  Gorfine and… Read More

February 13, 2013 @ 7:01 am By JD Alois  |  

It used to be that stock transactions were a laborious task.  Phone calls were made, account verifications were processed, confirmations were mailed and summarily filed away.  The advent of internet based stock trading was a natural and exciting evolution of  investing in equities.  No longer… Read More

February 13, 2013 @ 5:11 am By JD Alois  |  

(Staff Translation) Delegates explain that small and medium businesses are “starved of capital”. Legislation needs to take account of their particularities.   Straßburg – The EU-Parliament intends to facilitate access to credits for small and medium businesses. To achieve this, more flexibility and transparency in… Read More

February 11, 2013 @ 8:15 am By Out-Law.com  |  

Earlier this month Crowdcube became the first equity crowdfunding platform to gain regulatory approval from the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Crowdcube is a forum that allows businesses to advertise projects they are seeking financial support for and, in return, give investors a share in the… Read More

February 9, 2013 @ 4:20 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

UPDATE: The bill has been deferred A bill has been introduced by a group of Republican legislators in Hawaii aims to create a state-sponsored platform for crowdfunding projects. From billtrack50.com… Introduced Chamber: Lower Introduced Session: 2013 Regular Session Bill Summary:Creates a state crowdfunding website, which allows members… Read More

February 9, 2013 @ 9:05 am By SFGate  |  

Congress created equity crowdfunding, but the Securities and Exchange Commission holds the infant industry’s life in its hands. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, passed almost a year ago, will let privately held companies sell up to $1 million a year in unregistered stock to mom-and-pop… Read More

February 8, 2013 @ 1:51 am By Mondaq  |  

On December 14, 2012, the OSC released OSC Staff Consultation Paper 45-710 – Considerations for New Capital Raising Prospectus Exemptions (the “OSC Paper”)1 which examines four ideas for potential capital raising prospectus exemptions; crowdfunding, an offering memorandum exemption for Ontario, and exemptions for sophisticated investors and… Read More

February 6, 2013 @ 6:45 am By Charles Luzar  |  

One of the interesting points that emerged from last week’s Sunshine Act meeting of the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies was the following recommendation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should facilitate and encourage the creation of a separate U.S. equity market… Read More

February 5, 2013 @ 8:24 am By JD Alois  |  

Coming from the pages of RealBusiness in the UK, Barry James has composed an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg.  You may read the letter in its entirety here but the gist of his premise is the time is… Read More

February 4, 2013 @ 5:14 pm By BusinessWeek  |  

Nearly two years ago, I championed the idea of making it legal for entrepreneurs to raise money by selling equity stakes in their companies online. This kind of crowdfunding came much closer to becoming a reality when President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act into law… Read More

February 3, 2013 @ 11:27 am By JD Alois  |  

“CFIRA welcomes the SEC’s approval of FINRA’s Form for Funding Portals. We see this as a very positive and proactive sign that both agencies intend to prioritize rule making on the JOBS Act. This information request is the first public and meaningful step toward developing… Read More

January 31, 2013 @ 12:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Equity crowdfunding is still in a holding pattern, hovering over the regulatory process in Washington DC. The merits of crowdfunding continue to become more self evident as progress is made in the UK and around the world. One subject about equity crowdfunding which has only… Read More

January 31, 2013 @ 11:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Washington, DC –  The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the agenda for a meeting of its Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies being held this Friday, February 1. The Committee will consider recommendations about trading spreads for smaller exchange-listed companies, creation of a… Read More

January 28, 2013 @ 7:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ontario Chambers of Commerce release report regarding the business climate in Ontario.  Incorporated into the report, as reported in the Ottawa Citizen,  is a list of recommendations for improving business in the Canadian province – listing crowdfunding as one of the objectives.  This report is… Read More

January 27, 2013 @ 11:07 am By JD Alois  |  

From the World Economic Forum being held Davos, Switzerland, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) discusses the benefits of crowdfunding.  Representative McHenry is the Chair of the House  Financial Services sub committee which has oversight impacting the surrounding legislation.  McHenry has been a vocal supporter of the… Read More

January 27, 2013 @ 8:00 am By DelawareOnline  |  

In April, President Barack Obama signed the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business  Startups Act into law. The entrepreneurial community cheered, saying the law would help small businesses raise money during their most vulnerable periods, when companies try to move from early to late stage. “The thing that kills… Read More

January 26, 2013 @ 6:35 am By Upstart Business Journal  |  

Last week, influential crowdfunding advocates pleaded with interim Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Elisse Walter to move a set of rules for legislating last year’s Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act into the required 90-day comment period. They feared that the appointment of a new head would further delay the long-awaited legislation… Read More

January 25, 2013 @ 8:28 am By Practical ECommerce  |  

When President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act in April 2012, the clock started ticking on a 270-day period for the Securities and Exchange Commission to write the regulations that would govern crowdfunding. That 270 period is over and no regulations exist. SEC… Read More

January 24, 2013 @ 11:09 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

  MARY JO WHITE TO LEAD SEC: CROWDFUNDING IMPLICATIONS? (Crowdsourcing.org) “When it comes to prosecuting white collar criminals, she’s got an outstanding track record,” Douglas Ellenoff, of Ellenoff Grossman and Schole LLP, told Crowdsourcing.org. “She’s really an interesting and credible pick for the president, as… Read More

January 24, 2013 @ 2:54 pm By CBS News  |  

…But being a prosecutor is one thing, and being a top regulator is another. In the near term, the Commission faces many huge decisions. The Dodd-Frank financial reforms, designed in part to limit the risks big banks can take, and the so-called JOBS act, intended… Read More