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Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act, is a law intended to encourage funding of small businesses in the United States by easing many of the country's securities regulations. It passed with bipartisan support, and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on April 5, 2012. Title III, also known as the CROWDFUND Act, has drawn the most public attention because it creates a way for companies to use crowdfunding to issue securities, something that was not previously permitted. Title II went into effect on September 23, 2013. On October 30, 2015, the SEC adopted final rules allowing Title III equity crowdfunding. These rules went into effect on May 16, 2016; this section of the law is known as Regulation CF. Other titles of the Act had previously become effective in the years since the Act's passage.
Following a decrease in small business activity in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress considered a number of solutions to help spur economic growth. In November 2011, the House passed several bills aimed at economic revitalization, including Small Company Capital Formation (H.R. 1070), Entrepreneur Access to Capital (H.R. 2930), and Access to Capital for Job Creators (H.R. 2940). The Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act was introduced by Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and revised in collaboration with Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Informed by the Crowdfunding exemption movement and endorsed by the White House, it was the first U.S. bill designed to create a regulatory exemption for crowdfunded securities.
The passage of H.R. 2930 inspired the introduction of two Senate bills similarly focused on the new crowdfunding exemption: the Democratizing Access to Capital Act (S.1791, Scott Brown, R-MA), and the CROWDFUND (Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure) Act (S.1970, Jeff Merkley, D-OR). All three crowdfunding proposals were referred to the Senate Banking Committee, which took no action on them until March 2012.
In December 2011, Rep. Stephen Lee Fincher (R-TN) introduced into the House the Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act (H.R. 3606), to relieve companies with annual revenue of less than $1 billion from some Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance requirements. The bill was referred to the House Financial Services Committee.
On March 1, 2012, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor introduced and placed on the House legislative calendar a new version of H.R.3606, renamed Jumpstart Our Business Startups (The JOBS Act). The revised bill included the original H.R. 3606; the already-passed H.R. 1070, H.R. 2930, H.R. 2940; and two other bills that were still before the House: Private Company Flexibility and Growth (H.R. 2167), and Capital Expansion (H.R. 4088). AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant, who spent six months lobbying for JOBS Act reforms, recalls:
It ended up being a giant dog's breakfast of different bills combined together, and then some genius, probably some congressional staffer, said "How are we gonna get this thing to pass? Oh-- let's say it has something to do with jobs. Jumpstarting Our Business Startups! JOBS, JOBS!" And then, what congressperson can vote against something called the JOBS Act? It was a miracle.
After some debate and revision, the new JOBS Act passed the House on March 8. On March 13, the same day that the Act was placed on the Senate legislative calendar, Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced a revised version of his CROWDFUND bill, S.2190, cosponsored by Michael Bennet (D-CO), Scott Brown (R-MA), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). The new bill was based on S.1970 but incorporated elements from S.1791, upping the investment caps. It also expanded the liability section to explicitly authorize investors to sue issuers for the amount invested or for damages. On March 19, during the JOBS Act's debate in the Senate, Merkley, Bennet, and Brown amended the legislation by swapping out the language from H.R.2930 and substituting in S.2190.
The resulting revision passed the Senate on March 22, and after some debate passed the House on March 27. The JOBS Act was signed into law at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on April 5, 2012.
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Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act, is a law intended to encourage funding of small businesses in the United States by easing many of the country's securities regulations. It passed with bipartisan support, and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on April 5, 2012. Title III, also known as the CROWDFUND Act, has drawn the most public attention because it creates a way for companies to use crowdfunding to issue securities, something that was not previously permitted. Title II went into effect on September 23, 2013. On October 30, 2015, the SEC adopted final rules allowing Title III equity crowdfunding. These rules went into effect on May 16, 2016; this section of the law is known as Regulation CF. Other titles of the Act had previously become effective in the years since the Act's passage.
Following a decrease in small business activity in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress considered a number of solutions to help spur economic growth. In November 2011, the House passed several bills aimed at economic revitalization, including Small Company Capital Formation (H.R. 1070), Entrepreneur Access to Capital (H.R. 2930), and Access to Capital for Job Creators (H.R. 2940). The Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act was introduced by Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and revised in collaboration with Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Informed by the Crowdfunding exemption movement and endorsed by the White House, it was the first U.S. bill designed to create a regulatory exemption for crowdfunded securities.
The passage of H.R. 2930 inspired the introduction of two Senate bills similarly focused on the new crowdfunding exemption: the Democratizing Access to Capital Act (S.1791, Scott Brown, R-MA), and the CROWDFUND (Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure) Act (S.1970, Jeff Merkley, D-OR). All three crowdfunding proposals were referred to the Senate Banking Committee, which took no action on them until March 2012.
In December 2011, Rep. Stephen Lee Fincher (R-TN) introduced into the House the Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act (H.R. 3606), to relieve companies with annual revenue of less than $1 billion from some Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance requirements. The bill was referred to the House Financial Services Committee.
On March 1, 2012, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor introduced and placed on the House legislative calendar a new version of H.R.3606, renamed Jumpstart Our Business Startups (The JOBS Act). The revised bill included the original H.R. 3606; the already-passed H.R. 1070, H.R. 2930, H.R. 2940; and two other bills that were still before the House: Private Company Flexibility and Growth (H.R. 2167), and Capital Expansion (H.R. 4088). AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant, who spent six months lobbying for JOBS Act reforms, recalls:
It ended up being a giant dog's breakfast of different bills combined together, and then some genius, probably some congressional staffer, said "How are we gonna get this thing to pass? Oh-- let's say it has something to do with jobs. Jumpstarting Our Business Startups! JOBS, JOBS!" And then, what congressperson can vote against something called the JOBS Act? It was a miracle.
After some debate and revision, the new JOBS Act passed the House on March 8. On March 13, the same day that the Act was placed on the Senate legislative calendar, Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced a revised version of his CROWDFUND bill, S.2190, cosponsored by Michael Bennet (D-CO), Scott Brown (R-MA), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). The new bill was based on S.1970 but incorporated elements from S.1791, upping the investment caps. It also expanded the liability section to explicitly authorize investors to sue issuers for the amount invested or for damages. On March 19, during the JOBS Act's debate in the Senate, Merkley, Bennet, and Brown amended the legislation by swapping out the language from H.R.2930 and substituting in S.2190.
The resulting revision passed the Senate on March 22, and after some debate passed the House on March 27. The JOBS Act was signed into law at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on April 5, 2012.