Skip to main content

SEC to implement Title III of the JOBS Act

Image
By
Yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced "that it will hold its annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation at its Washington D.C. headquarters on Nov. 19, 2015. The morning session of the forum will feature panel discussions on exempt and registered offerings occurring after the passage of the JOBS Act." You can register for the forum here. 
We think the SEC will use this opportunity to release the final Title III crowdfunding rules. As I describe in my book on the JOBS Act, small businesses and startups will be able to raise up to $1 million in equity (or debt) funding online via what are called Crowdfunding Platforms―online communities and websites. Imagine an eBay-like site that allows you to post your idea for a commercial venture online and then allows investors to purchase equity shares or stakes in it. 
Recently,  two state securities regulators (Montana and Massachusetts) brought a suit in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit against the SEC to block the rules implementing Title IV of the JOBS Act. Title IV allows companies to raise up to $50 million. We were recognized as a "Friend of the Court" in the action, and suggested the Court vacate the Title IV rule, subject to the SEC immediately implementing Title III of the JOBS Act.
I think they will use the Forum as an opportunity to do so. Now, I am not suggesting that just because I urged a Court to tie their Title IV decision to Title III, the SEC will act. (I don't have that kind of influence AT ALL.) 
On Wednesday, September 16th, I spoke at a roundtable on crowdfunding at the Embassy of Italy in DC:  
Also speaking was the Special Counsel for the SEC in charge of implementing Title III. He did not say anything that could be directly interpreted as supporting my statement, but he did acknowledge that the SEC is very, very late with implementation: under the JOBS Act, they were to have Title III regulations in place by 12/31/2012. 
I also noticed that the summary of the Title III rule on Reginfo.gov has a date listed for the implementation of final rules governing Title III: Final Action  -10/00/2015.
I think this means they will announce the final rules on the 19th of November, but, of course, I could be wrong.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crowdfunding Accounting 101 - Revenue Recognition in Crowdfunding

By
A start-up using crowd funding to create a product is different from a normal company. The start-up has cash inflows from donations but does not have a product, yet. In this situation, we recommend using completed-contract method to recognize revenue. Under this way of thinking, we assume the start-up is akin to a project or a long-term contract. The crowdfunding company will find it difficult to estimate the revenue from crowdfunders and, hence, the cost of rewards or perks. Under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and GAAP guidelines, if the firm cannot reliably measure the outcome of the project, revenue should be recognized based on contract costs. These costs should be expensed when incurred. Profit is recognized only at the completion of the project. In summary, for crowdfunding companies, revenue, expense, and profit are recognized only when the crowdfunded product is actually manufactured. 1 For example, assume that AAA Corp. wants to manufacture bicyc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crowdfunding for Gamers

By
The chart below shows the top 10 most funded video game crowdfunding campaigns from Kickstarter and Indiegogo. "Rank"   i s based on the dollar amount raised. The table was complied using data from our crowdfunding research reports: The Top 50 Crowdfunding Campaigns and the  Top Crowdfunding Campaigns for Computer Games As we saw from our analysis of the Top 50 most funded crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo 34% of the top campaigns were video game related. The most notable gaming campaign is Star Citizen which raised $2,134,374 on Kickstarter. The developers of the Star Citizen video game went on to create a crowdfunding platform specifically for their game. With amazing graphics and a detailed storyline they managed to raise over $47 million, making this the most funded crowdfunding campaign of all time! This is great news for video game developers. It shows the potential that crowdfunding holds for that industry. So, what should...
Post a Comment
Read more

Equity Crowdfunding in the District of Columbia 7/22 at 6:30 pm

By
Equity Crowdfunding in the District of Columbia According to recent news reports, "D.C. regulators are drawing up a proposed framework that would allow District startups to take advantage of equity crowdfunding from District investors, following a growing number of states which have passed similar measures in recent months. D.C.'s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) is preparing to publish a proposed rule that would give companies within the city “an alternative to existing methods of raising capital,” the agency said in a statement to the Washington Business Journal. That proposal, according to DISB, “is similar to those that are being developed in other states and the SEC’s proposed crowdfunding regulations.” We will describe state-level equity based crowdfunding, discuss specific crowdfunding campaigns and announce a new initiative. https://equitycrowdfundingdc.eventbrite.com
Post a Comment
Read more