New York recently adopted new rules to, among other things, eliminate its cumbersome and confusing Form 99 blue sky notification filing requirement for many Regulation D offerings and instead require electronic notice filings on Form D for those offerings.  New York’s Martin Act previously required companies to manually file an originally-signed Form 99 before offering or selling private placement securities to New York investors. 

Effective December 2, 2020, New York’s new Regulation D filing procedures are now generally consistent with the 1996 National Securities Market Improvement Act and with procedures in other states, which allow companies selling “covered securities” under Rule 506 of Regulation D to provide notice to the state through the North American Association of Securities Administrators (“NASAA”) Electronic Filing Depository (“EFD”).  The Form D now is required to be filed with New York on the same schedule as federal and other state filings—within 15 days of the first sale of any securities to an investor in New York.

In a press release announcing the change, New York Attorney General Letitia James stated, “By moving to standardized electronic filings and payments, our systems will be more resilient to disruption in the future and will be better equipped to protect investors from frauds, especially critical as we have seen an exponential rise in these types of scams as a result of COVID-19.”  The press release also provides that the new rules are the “latest step in Attorney General James’ ongoing efforts to streamline and enhance the oversight

The SEC announced on October 7, 2002 that it had approved, by vote of 3-2, a proposed limited conditional exemption for individuals acting as “finders” in private market transactions with accredited investors.  The text of the proposed exemption can be found here.

When small businesses engage in capital raising transactions in reliance on exemptions from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”), they often look to “finders” to assist in identifying and, in some cases, soliciting potential investors.  Such finders (and issuers using them) must determine whether they are required to register as “broker dealers” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “1934 Act”). In making that assessment, finders and issuers (and their legal counsel) have been left to parse through various no-action letters and SEC enforcement actions to discern the SEC’s regulatory position.  In that context, certain activities, as well as the presence of “transaction-based compensation” in these arrangements, have proved to be particularly nettlesome. The proposal would provide a non-exclusive safe harbor from broker registration, and would enable those who qualify to receive transaction-based compensation.

The proposal would be limited to natural persons, and would create two categories: Tier I Finders and Tier II Finders.  Both tiers would be subject certain conditions:

• the issuer must not be required to file reports under the 1934 Act and must be conducting the offering in reliance on an applicable exemption from registration under the 1933 Act;
• the finder must not engage in a “general
  

The SEC adopted amendments on August 26, 2020 by a 3-2 vote, to expand the definition of “accredited investor,” paving the way for certain financially sophisticated institutional and individual investors to participate in private capital market offerings. The SEC release notably invited members of the public to propose to the Commission additional specific certifications, designations, degrees, or programs of study that should qualify someone to be an accredited investor.

Click here to read the Alert in full.