In February, the SEC issued a proposal to expand the “test-the-waters” accommodation from EGCs to all companies. So far, about 20 comments have been submitted on the rule proposal. A recent “Corporate Secretary” article says that the bulk of them have been supportive, but comments submitted by the non-profit Better Markets questioned several aspects of the proposal. Here’s an excerpt from the article describing the organization’s concerns about the rule’s potential impact on unsophisticated investors:
Better Markets, which was founded following the financial crisis with an eye on reforming Wall Street, raises concerns about the SEC’s plan. For one thing, the group argues that the SEC proposal creates ‘a dangerous loophole’ by not requiring issuers, and those authorized to act on their behalf such as underwriters, to validate the status of the investor – to make sure the investor is truly a QIB or an IAI – before a solicitation is made.
‘This loophole would permit solicitations to retail and other investors that either lack financial sophistication or cannot bear the financial risks associated with investing in highly risky investments such as those offered by, for example, penny stock issuers, leveraged business development companies or asset-backed security issuers,’ writes Better Market president and CEO Dennis Kelleher.
Better Markets also wants companies that “test the waters” prior to an offering & decide to move forward to file their testing-the-water communications with the SEC.
-John Jenkins, TheCorporateCounsel.net May 17, 2019
