Looking Abroad

Speaking today at a Practising Law Institute session, Keith Higgins, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the SEC, Higgins addressed a number of interesting topics.  For example, Mr. Higgins commented on the different legal frameworks for crowdfunding as among Canada, the UK and the United States.  To date, crowdfunding in the UK has met with significant interest.  Mr. Higgins noted that the staff of the SEC is committed to learning from other experiences in order to strike the "right balance between facilitating capital formation and providing appropriate investor protections for what many believe will be the riskiest types of offerings."  Mr. Higgins also commented on the progress of the disclosure effectiveness initiative.  He noted that the next step is to focus on business and financial disclosure required by periodic and current reports.   Mr. Higgins also commented on the ongoing debate regarding the merits of quarterly versus semi-annual financial