In a response letter to Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) dated April 6, 2011, Mary Shapiro, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), indicated that the SEC would be reviewing the feasibility of, among other things, a new exemption from registration for micro-financing or “crowdfunding.” Crowdfunding generally refers to the pooling of small contributions […]

NASDAQ recently filed a proposed rule change with the SEC. Upon taking effect, the rule will change the way total assets and shareholders’ equity are calculated for listing purposes on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. To conform with NYSE’s treatment under their comparable standard, NASDAQ proposes to delete the requirement that total assets be demonstrated […]

Last week, the SEC proposed new rules required by Section 952 of Dodd-Frank Act.  Under the proposal, compensation committees may engage a compensation consultant or other advisor, including legal counsel, only after taking into consideration the following factors, and any other factors determined by the national securities exchanges: 1) provision of other services to the […]

Assuming that Congress and the President cannot agree on either a continuing resolution to fund the operations of the United States’ government or a budget prior to midnight, the SEC will immediately suspend most of its operations.  According to the SEC’s contingency plan, of its 3,969 employees only 332 will report to work during the […]

Recently, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) issued a proposed amendment to Rule 5122 to further regulate nonpublic offerings. The proposed amendment would cause significant changes in the nonpublic offering process including the following:   Disclosure Requirements – All offerings must have an offering document. The offering document would be required to disclose (i) […]