Tag Archives: JOBS Act

JOBS Act

When a “Public Offering” Is Not a “Public Offering”: The SEC Rule Proposal Eliminating the Ban on General Solicitation and Advertising in Securities Offerings

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Introduction

On April 5, 2012, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”) was enacted. The stated objective for the JOBS Act is to improve access to the public capital markets for startup and emerging companies and thus increase job creation and economic growth in the United States.

Title II of the JOBS Act (“Title II”) mandated the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) to amend applicable rules within 90 days of its enactment (i.e., July 5, 2012) in order to eliminate the prohibitions against general solicitation or general advertising (collectively, “General Solicitation”) in Rule 506 of Regulation D (“Rule 506”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and under Rule 144A under the Securities Act (“Rule 144A”). These changes are intended to allow issuers to advertise broadly when conducting private placements and thus enable them directly to reach a greater number of potential investors at lower costs without an intermediary, subject to certain requirements, as described more fully below. For a complete overview of all provisions of the JOBS Act, please click here.

On August 29, 2012, the Commission issued Release No. 33-93544 (the “Release”) which, belatedly, proposed a new Rule 506(c) (“Proposed Rule 506(c)”) and an amendment to Rule 144A (collectively, the “Proposed Rules”) to implement Title II. The Proposed Rules would:

(i) Create Proposed Rule 506(c) which does not prohibit General Solicitation for offers and sales of securities that otherwise comply with Rule 506, provided that all purchasers of the securities are “accredited investors” and the issuer takes “reasonable steps to verify” that the purchasers are “accredited investors;”

(ii) Amend Form D5 to add a check box to indicate whether an offering is being conducted pursuant to Proposed Rule 506(c); and

(iii) Amend Rule 144A to allow securities resold pursuant to Rule 144A to be offered to persons other than “qualified institutional buyers”6 (“QIBs”), including by way of General Solicitation, provided that the securities are sold only to persons that the seller (or any person acting on behalf of the seller) “reasonably believes” are QIBs.

Comments on the Proposed Rules are due on or before October 5, 2012. A more comprehensive summary of the Proposed Rules is annexed hereto.

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SEC

JOBS Act Eases Restrictions on Startup and Emerging Companies

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Earlier this month, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”) into law.  The JOBS Act, which had strong bipartisan and business support, is aimed at stimulating economic growth by allowing U.S. and foreign startup and emerging companies to more easily raise capital and transition to public companies.

The JOBS Act works by reducing a number of regulatory burdens that were imposed by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  It directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise Rule 506 under the 1933 Securities Act to allow general advertising and solicitation for private placements, with no limit on the number of securities that are bought and sold, so long as they are sold only to accredited investors.  It also amends Rule 144A(d)(1) of the Securities Act, which allows private resales of securities to qualified institutional buyers (“QIBs”), to permit such securities to be generally advertised to persons other than QIBs—as long as they are only later sold to QIBs.  These changes have the effect of allowing firms to market themselves to a greatly expanded base of potential investors. Read More