Crowdfunding And The Federal Securities Laws

This article considers the costs and benefits of crowdfunding and proposes an exemption that would free crowdfunding from the registration requirements, but not the antifraud provisions, of federal securities law. Securities offerings for an amount less than 250, 000-500, 000 would be exempted if (1) each investor invests no more than the greater of 500 or 2% of the investor's annual income; and (2) the offering is made on an Internet crowdfunding site that meets the exemption's requirements. To qualify for the exemption, crowdfunding sites would have to: (1) be open to the general public; (2) provide public communication portals for investors and potential investors; (3) require investors to fulfill a simple education requirement before investing; (4) prohibit certain conflicts of interest; (5) offer no investment advice or recommendations; and (6) notify the SEC that they are hosting crowdfunding offerings. Sites that meet these requirements would not be treated as brokers or investment advisers.