SEC Proposes Liberalization Of Private Placement Requirements

On August 3, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposed a series of actions which, for the most part, would have the effect of liberalizing private placement requirements. The proposed actions would modify the safe harbor for private placements provided by Regulation D as follows:

• Creation of a new safe harbor for offerings to "Large Accredited Investors" where limited publicity would be permitted in the offering
• A modest expansion and clarification of the categories of investors who would qualify as "Accredited Investors"
• Addition of inflation adjustments to increase over time the minimum standards for Accredited Investors and Large Accredited Investors