Corporate Finance Lawyers in the USA

The JOBS Act includes provisions to allow intermediaries known as “Crowdfunding Portals” to assist companies with raising capital using the internet. Crowdfunding Portals will serve as attractive capital raising centers for private companies seeking to go public in need of seed capital.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act was signed into law by President Obama on April 5, 2012. The JOBS Act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to issue final regulations regarding the portions of the JOBS Act relating to crowdfunding within 270 days of the law’s enactment on December 31, 2012.

The OTC Bulletin Board (“OTCBB”) is an electronic quotation system that provides real-time quotes, last-sale prices, and volume information for some over-the-counter securities not listed on a national securities exchange such as NASDAQ.

The last step in going public transactions is for the soon-to-be-public company to obtain a stock trading or ticker symbol. In order to obtain a ticker symbol, the company seeking to go public’s stock must first be listed on a national securities exchange or qualify for quotation on the OTCMarkets’ Pink Sheets, OTCQB, or OTCQX markets.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act was signed into law by President Obama on April 5, 2012. The JOBS Act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to issue final regulations regarding the portions of the JOBS Act relating to crowdfunding within 270 days of the law’s enactment on December 31, 2012. As of May 5, 2012, the SEC still has not issued the required JOBS Act’s final regulations concerning crowdfunding.

Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) requires that stockholders of public companies relying upon Rule 144 satisfy its adequate current public information requirement. The requirements depend upon whether the issuer is a reporting or non-reporting company.

Many private companies that go public are opting for the listing on the OTCMarket’s Pink Sheets due to the increased costs and more stringent regulations associated with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reporting.

The OTCMarkets Group operates an electronic inter-dealer quotation system called OTC Link that broker-dealers use to trade securities not listed on a national securities-related exchange. OTCMarkets rank issuers in tiers; each issuer’s rank depends upon the amount of disclosure provided. Issuers using SEC Rule 15c2-11 qualify for the “OTC Pink Current Information” tier.

Going public is a big step for any company. The process of “going public” is complex and at times precarious. While going public offers many benefits it also comes with risks and quantities of regulations with which issuers must become familiar.

The OTCMarkets describes its OTCQX marketplace as the premier tier of the U.S. Over-the-Counter (OTC) markets, providing investors with an objective measure to ide3ntify exceptional OTC-traded companies.