Buy these securities and get this handy lemon squeezer!
Some folks, especially traditional securities lawyers, have recently been startled by flashy ads on the TV and radio for offerings of securities, specifically Regulation A securities in start-ups. We’ve had a number of calls, and there have even been some newspaper articles, asking “They can’t do that, can they?” They can. This is not the […]
Filing a Form C – Who is signing?
You are almost at the home stretch in your Regulation CF offering; however, there are still a few more formalities that need to occur. First, you will need to identify who will be signing on your Form C. The SEC requires the following individuals to sign: Individual who will sign on behalf of the company […]
How to fail at filing
There’s a right way to do everything, even failing to file with the SEC. We experienced this recently, when one of our Regulation A clients was unable to make its annual 1-K filing covering the year 2016. We’d been watching their progress carefully, and so a few days before this year’s filing deadline of May […]
Happy Birthday Regulation CF (shame about the compliance failures)
So, one year ago today, Regulation CF went into effect. Small companies can make offerings up to $1 million (recently increased to $1.07 million) and roughly 325 companies have made Reg CF offerings so far. Roughly 80 companies have filed Form C-U to notify the SEC of the conclusion of their offering (they can also […]
Corporate law and Regulation CF
Since Regulation CF went live in May 2016, there have been approximately 280 companies that have made offerings made in reliance on it. Of these, only 51 or so have filed a Form C-U to show they have met their target offering amount and closed. It might be argued that this approximately 20% success rate […]
Preparing for Reg CF: When do your financials go “stale”?
If you are about to launch a crowdfunding offering under Regulation CF, you should make sure you know when your financial statements will go “stale” (i.e., become too old). Under the disclosure requirements of Regulation CF, to “conduct” an offering (meaning to have an offering open and able to take investments) you must be using financials that are […]
Raising capital online? Check your bylaws
If you raise capital online, you’re probably a New Economy, Internet 4.0 type of company, right? Leverage the cloud, move fast, break rules (not securities rules), create synergies, it’s all about the hustle. Right? Maybe. Some of you new era companies should be huddling in your hoodies for shame, ‘cos some of you have distinctly […]
Towards a proposed framework for crossborder regulation of crowdfunding offerings
We live in a world without borders. Securities laws, however, have clearly-defined jurisdictional limits, many of them inconsistent across countries. We live in a world where information wants to be free. Securities laws, however, have very clear ideas about how where information is allowed to go and who is responsible for it. This is all […]
An Intern’s Thoughts on Crowdfunding and Compliance
*Our summer intern, Diana Leung, who will be heading to Georgetown University in the fall, weighs in on disclosure compliance. The brilliant start-up companies that define crowdfunding are transforming the meaning of the American Dream. Citizens not only have an equal opportunity to achieve prosperity through the traditional conduits of society but can now do […]
Understanding Reg CF: even “certified” financial statements need to be in GAAP
With one week to go we are hearing that a number of companies are realizing their financial statements are not going to be reviewed in time by their accountants. But they really want to launch on May 16! So they are planning to file on Form C for amounts less than $100,000 and “certifying” the […]