SEC Posts Proposal To Harmonize Private Securities Offering Exemptions

As seems to be common practice these days, the SEC cancelled its open meeting scheduled for yesterday morning and instead went ahead and posted its proposal to amend the rules to harmonize and simplify the framework for private securities offering exemptions. Here is the 341-page proposing release and the related press release. The proposal draws on input received in response to the SEC's concept release issued in June of last year (see this PubCo post), which sought public comment on ways to promote capital formation, to harmonize and streamline the patchwork universe of private placement exemptions and "to expand investment opportunities while maintaining appropriate investor protections." Currently, the framework has 10 different exemptions or safe harbors, with different sets of requirements. As SEC Chair Jay Clayton said in a 2018 speech, the current framework would not likely exist as it is if the SEC were starting with blank slate. The comment period will be