The SEC’s Final Rules for Regulation Crowdfunding were published on October 31, 2015, and are considered effective 180 days after such publication. Meaning that on May 16, 2016, Regulation Crowdfunding will be a go.
On that date, a company will be able to raise money under the new rules and file Form C (which still does not appear on the SEC’s Form Page).
To get a head start prior to the final rules allowing sales, and to catch up to broker-dealers who can also act as intermediaries and sell securities through the Regulation Crowdfunding final rules, Funding Portals were allowed to begin registering with the SEC on January 29, 2016, by filing the Form Funding Portal, among other things.
I’ve blogged on this before (here and here) and will be doing a number of posts solely on Regulation Crowdfunding in the near future to make sure that the basics are covered and will dig into some advanced topics.
Anyone company looking to take advantage of the new rules should start getting its house in order, by preparing its financials, its legal structure and investigating which intermediary it wishes to use for the sale of its shares, whether a broker-dealer or a funding portal.
After a further review of the new Regulation Crowdfunding rules I think they exemption provided may best serve companies looking to raise smaller amounts, such as below $500,000 (to avoid the audited financial requirement), or who are raising equity capital for the first time. There is a huge need for smaller companies to get access to capital. The Regulation Crowdfunding rules may allow investments to happen which otherwise wouldn’t, which is what Congress intended by passing the JOBS Act to modernize the antiquated securities laws. Companies that can attract accredited investors will likely continue to rely on the private placement exemption under Rule 506(b) due to its relative simplicity compared to other offerings. But again, I do think the Regulation Crowdfunding rules have a specific subset of issuers that can benefit from them.
