21 Mar Flash! SEC Will Vote on Final Regulation A+ Rules on March 25

It has happened at last. Almost three years after passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012, the SEC is set to vote to finalize rules on so-called Regulation A+ expansion this Wednesday, March 25. As we have written often here, the hope is that they remain close to their original proposed rules. This could mean that the rules are “official” by early summer.

If passed mostly as proposed over a year ago, private companies will be able to complete an IPO, raising up to $50 million with a slightly scaled back prospectus, the ability to test the waters with all investors, and no state blue sky review of the offering. For small companies considering options such as reverse mergers and self-filings, the hope is that this will add an additional very attractive option to consider.

For decades there has been a schism between small companies that see benefit to being public and have the ability to bear the costs of doing so, but an underwriting community that insists on only more mature companies “qualifying” for a traditional IPO. Maximizing the alternatives for these companies and educating the marketplace about their benefits (and challenges) has been the focus of my legal career. It’s been a long wait but I am cautiously optimistic that the final Regulation A+ (your humble blogger actually coined the term) rules will usher in a new era of exciting small companies raising capital for growth, job creation, and success.