On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, the New York Technology Council and CompTIA, provided a joint "Federal Legislative Briefing" at EisnerAmper. Together they discussed technology opportunities related to public policies currently in progress in Washington, DC.
www.nytech.org
4. Join Us
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5. Upcoming Events
Monday March 19 – Tech Hiring and Employment Outlook
What is the outlook for technology hiring in New York?
Tues April 3 – Management Strategies for Cloud Computing
InformationWeek editor-at-large and author Charlie
Babcock discusses trends in cloud computing.
Thurs April 12 – Social Media Do’s and Don’ts
A review of the law as it applies to companies that use
social media platforms to engage consumers.
6. Agenda
Donn Morrill
Crowd-sourced Funding
JOBS Act
Matthew Evans
Immigration Reform & Other HR Issues
Data Security & Breech Notification
7. Background
Mr. Morrill Goes to Washington
CompTIA and TECNA
Six Regional Tech Councils
NY, NJ, AZ, GA, PA, UT
Met House and Senate Members
Congressman Rush Holt – NJ
Congressman Richard Hanna – NY
Aides to Senator Schumer – NY
And many others….
8. Background
Securities Act of 1933 and the
Securities & Exchange Act of 1934
Established rules for issuance and trading of securities
Rules related to size of issuance and investor
“sophistication”
Exceptions to rules
Regulation A (Reg A)
Regulation D (Reg D)
9. Crowd Funding
Current Situation
“Accredited” investors can purchase private securities
Defined in Reg D (1933)
Net worth > $1mm
> $200k income for past 2 years
Offerings cannot be publicly promoted
500 shareholder limit
Therefore, current crowd-funding sites can only offer gifts or
product, not equity
10. JOBS Act
What Changes: Crowd Funding?
Aspiring Fred Wilsons can invest up to
the less of $10k or 10% of their annual
income
Raises shareholder limit to 1,000 from 500
Start-ups can raise up to $1-2mm in this way
11. JOBS Act
What Changes: Access to Capital?
Companies under $1b exempt from certain
regulations
Increase from $75mm
Sarbanes-Oxley
Dodd-Frank
Public placement regulatory exemption ceiling
increased from $5mm to $50mm (S-1 reg)
12. Issues
What could possibly go wrong?
“Job-Creation Bill Seen Eviscerating U.S. Shareholder Protections”
– BusinessWeek
“…fraud reauthorization act of 2012…” – former SEC executive
Lynn Turner
“JOBS Bill Opens Door…To Scam Artists” – The Fiscal Times
“We lack a clear understanding of the impact that the
legislation… would have on investor protections,” – Mary
Schapiro, SEC Chairperson
