The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, primarily a response to the fraud perpetrated by energy giant Enron and not detected by their then accountants, brought some good. However, in my view it was mostly an overreaction to a very limited issue, and thankfully its impact on...
A fascinating recent piece in the New York Law Journal talks about the many dismissals of class action cases against US public companies based in China for alleged fraud. The cases say that because these companies' regulatory financial filings in China are sometimes different than the...
About a month ago, eight senior Democratic Senators (including Sen. Al Franken, above) wrote to SEC Chair Mary Jo White to oppose the SEC's proposed rules under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 regarding Regulation A public offerings. In particular, the Senators...
There is a section of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's website titled, "Completed Initiatives of Interest to Small Business." Since 2008 there are only three items listed. Two were mandated by Dodd-Frank and the other by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of...
As my faithful blogees know, I have been a strong advocate for the changes to SEC Regulation A that are in the process of being finalized. Congress mandated that the SEC implement these changes as part of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of...
My regular blogees know that each year, as mandated by Congress, the SEC holds a Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. The result of each forum is a list of recommendations developed by the participants who range from business folks, professionals, academics and government...
An important appeals court this month has us all talking again about SEC settlements with big banks. Several years ago a lower court rejected a $285 million settlement with Citibank over alleged misleading claims in the mortgage business. The federal judge reviewing the settlement said...
Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) It took until just before Memorial Day, but apropos timing as the House Financial Services Committee, on May 22, officially approved 11 bills to help small businesses with capital formation and growth. Many on the Hill are fashioning this group of bills...
This week the House Financial Services Committee appeared to approve a bunch of bills designed to help small companies and create a logical follow up to the Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 which got the ball rolling. The final vote tally will...
A key subcommittee of the US House Financial Services Committee has announced a hearing tomorrow morning to begin consideration of a group of 7 bills that could coalesce into a large initiative to benefit small businesses and smaller public companies. Some are saying this, along...