Crowdcheck Blog
Insights and information for online capital formation
Here's hoping that everyone in the crowdfunding community is planning to respond to the SEC's proposals on Rule 147 and 504. Even if they think the SEC got it right. And that they will comment on all aspects of the proposals, even the bits that the SEC got right.
Here's why. Let's say the SEC proposes a rule that says companies must disclose whether pets are permitted at the company's offices. Let's imagine nearly everyone thinks "Well, that's reasonable. I want to know how pup-friendly a company is." They don't comment because they assume the SEC will adopt the rules as proposed. But in the proposing release the SEC has asked whether this disclosure is…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, SEC, Blog
Actually, the SEC has no views specifically on singing kittens that I know of (although I am aware of at least one SEC staffer smuggling a cat into the building). The issue arises, though, in the context of "notices" of offerings under the new crowdfunding rules. As you probably know, the provisions of the JOBS Act limit the extent to which a company issuing securities can advertise the terms of the offering anywhere other than on the website of the broker-dealer or funding portal hosting the offering. The SEC's rules clarify what is permitted in these notices. The issuer can post a brief notice including information about the company and what it does and…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, SEC, Section 4(a)(6), Securities Law, Blog
This is my least favorite bit of the SEC's Regulation CF: the fact that the exemption from Section 12(g) is conditional.
What does this mean? Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 says that if you acquire a certain number of shareholders of any class of equity securities, you have to register that class with the SEC and become subject to the SEC's ongoing reporting requirements.
The shareholder number for non-accredited investors is 500. Lots of crowdfunding companies will want to have at least 500 investors in their crowd. Regulation CF exempts crowdfunding companies from full SEC registration, BUT this exemption is conditioned on the companies…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Disclosure, SEC, Section 4(a)(6), Blog
I had a few spare minutes yesterday after making our fifth Regulation A filing with the SEC and after a quick scamper round the internet I found that there is an amazing amount of bad information about Regulation A out there.
It's getting so deep we are going to have to start shovelling. So I'm going to start picking on bits of misinformation and shovelling them out.
We'll start with this one: "Non-affiliates can sell their shares after one year under SEC Rule 144."
Nope. Rule 144 has nothing to do with Regulation A. Rule 144 gives affiliates and people who are holding "restricted" securities a way to sell their securities without being treated as underwriters…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Regulation A, Securities Law, Blog
Issuers of securities under Regulation CF will be required to provide financial statements prepared in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (U.S. GAAP) covering the two most recently completed fiscal years (or shorter period since inception). The type of review that these financial statements have to undergo depends on the amount sought, the amount of securities that the issuer has already sold in reliance on Regulation CF in the preceding 12 months, and whether the issuer has previously sold securities in an offering under Regulation CF:
· If current offer plus previous raises amounts to $100,000 or less, the financial…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Disclosure, Section 4(a)(6), Securities Law, Blog
As we all know by now, the SEC on Friday voted in favor of adopting the regulations that will permit securities-based crowdfunding. The rules will go into full effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register, which may mean just around May 1. Which seems like a very fine time for a fundamental change in the funding of early-stage companies.
We'll be blogging about various aspects of the new rules here. And we'll be producing a practical guide to Regulation Cf which we'll distribute to everyone and post in "Resources". So keep visiting!
And long live the financial revolution!
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Section 4(a)(6), Securities Law, Blog
We've discussed previously the fact that in a Regulation A offering the SEC gets to see all your stuff. Of course, it's not just the SEC who gets to see stuff, but anyone with an internet connection. And some of the stuff that they get to see in a Regulation A filing consists of your "material contracts." What are these? Well, they are described here, but basically they consist of contracts with management, such as employment agreements, stock option plans and important agreements such as supply or manufacturing contracts.
What if you have confidential information in those contracts that you don't want to share with the public? Or the contract has a…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Disclosure, Regulation A, SEC, Securities Law, Blog
I had a great conversation with a member of the SEC Staff the other day in which he referred to the type of disclosure to be made under Regulation A as “free market disclosure.” I think that’s a great term and much better than the way I was thinking of disclosure under Regulation A, which was in terms of “non-application of the principle of ‘monopoly of the prospectus’.”
Oops, I see I almost lost you there. I was talking securities law geek language again.
The “monopoly of the prospectus” refers to the fact that, if you were doing a regular IPO, instead of a Reg A offering, you would not be able to make any statements about the offering outside the official…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Disclosure, Regulation A, SEC, Blog
There’s an increasing amount of publicity out there from companies that are “testing the water” (TTW) before deciding to make a Regulation A offering. At CrowdCheck, we love the idea of TTW. It’s an efficient way of making sure that it’s going to be worth a company’s time to hire lawyers and accountants and go through the SEC review process.
But there are important basic SEC rules that haven’t changed at all, and you need to bear them in mind. First, know that anything that “conditions the market” or promotes interest in a capital-raise, is an “offer” of securities. That can include posting a TTW campaign on an online investment platform, an appearance on…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Disclosure, Regulation A, SEC, Securities Law, Blog
Pretty much everyone knows by now that audited financial statements are required for offerings under Tier 2 of Regulation A. While the SEC doesn’t require audited financials (or any kind of review by outside accountants) for Tier 1, some states do require audited financials in Tier 1 offerings.
But do you know what the audit letter is supposed to look like? That is important.
Without getting too much into the weeds, the SEC requires that audit reports meet the requirements of Regulation S-X. And that means those audit reports must be “clean.” There can’t be any reservations or qualifications or limitations on scope on the audit. Here’s an example of the…
This entry is filed under Crowdfunding, Regulation A, SEC, Blog