Last week, the SEC held its annual Government-Business Forum, which included a number of presentations on exempt offering alternatives. Anya Coverman, Deputy Director of Policy of NASAA, presented on intrastate crowdfunding. The attached powerpoint provides a useful overview of the intrastate crowdfunding exemptions as of this month. See here: https://www.sec.gov/info/smallbus/sbforum119015-coverman-presentation.pdf.
Kevin Laws of AngelList provided some metrics on funds raised online in the last two years, which totaled $205 million. As noted in his powerpoint only 3% have involved Rule 506(c). Mr. Laws noted that there is a trend toward deals led by a credible investor, or "syndicate" deals. See his powerpoint here: https://www.sec.gov/info/smallbus/sbforum119015-laws-presentation.pdf.
William Waddill, SVP and CFO, Calithera Biosciences, speaking on behalf of Bio, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, raised a number of issues affecting smaller reporting companies (SRCs). Mr. Waddill noted that "a slight change in the percentage of market value captured by the SRC/non-accelerated filer definition could support company growth and capital formation for a significant number of small businesses." There has been relatively little reform of the rules and regulations applicable to SRCs and the Forum helped identify a number of important areas of attention. See Mr. Waddill's presentation here: https://www.sec.gov/info/smallbus/sbforum119015-waddill-presentation.pdf.
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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