The JOBS Act Is Not Just Crowdfunding

On April 5, 2012 President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law.  In my excitement over this ground-breaking new law, I have been zealously blogging about the Crowdfunding portion of the JOBS Act.  However, the JOBS Act impacts securities laws in many additional ways.  The following is a summary of the many ways the JOBS Act will amend current securities regulations, all in ways to support small businesses.

A.       The New “Emerging Growth Company” Category

The JOBS Act will create a new category of companies defined as “Emerging Growth Companies” (EGC).  An EGC will be defined as a company with annual gross revenues of less than $1 billion, that has been public and reporting for a minimum of five years and whose non-affiliated public float is valued at less than $700 million.  EGC’s will have reduced requirements associated with initial public offerings (IPO’s) and ongoing reporting requirements.  For many purposes, EGC’s will be allowed to use the less