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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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Box 6-6: The JOBS Act<br />

While it was an imperative to correct the market failures and<br />

excesses in the pre-2008 financial system, an important aspect of<br />

financial regulatory reform is ensuring funds can be channeled to<br />

entrepreneurs who have productive uses for capital. In April of 2012, the<br />

President signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS)<br />

Act, a bipartisan bill that enacts many of the President’s proposals to<br />

encourage startups and support the nation’s small businesses. The Act<br />

allows for “crowdfunding”, expands “mini-public offerings,” and creates<br />

an “IPO on-ramp”, all of which allow for easier funding of small businesses<br />

while maintaining important investor protections.<br />

As implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission,<br />

“crowdfunding” allows startups and small businesses to raise up to $1<br />

million annually from many small-dollar investors through web-based<br />

platforms, democratizing access to capital. Investor protections include<br />

a requirement that crowdfunding platforms must be registered with<br />

a self-regulatory organization and regulated by the SEC. In addition,<br />

investors’ annual combined investments in crowdfunded securities are<br />

limited based on an income and net worth test. SEC rules implementing<br />

the crowdfunding portion of the JOBS Act became effective in May 2016<br />

making it possible for entrepreneurs across the country to raise smalldollar<br />

investments from ordinary Americans.<br />

Prior to the JOBS Act, the existing “Regulation A” exemption from<br />

certain SEC requirements for small businesses seeking to raise less than<br />

$5 million in a public offering was seldom used. The JOBS Act raises this<br />

threshold to $50 million, streamlining the process for smaller innovative<br />

companies to raise capital consistent with investor protections. The SEC<br />

rules implementing this portion of the Act became effective in the summer<br />

of 2015.<br />

The JOBS Act makes it easier for young, high-growth firms to go<br />

public by providing an incubator period for a new class of “Emerging<br />

Growth Companies.” During this period, qualifying companies will have<br />

time to reach compliance with certain public company disclosure and<br />

auditing requirements after their initial public offering (IPO). Any firm<br />

that goes public already has up to two years after its IPO to comply with<br />

certain Sarbanes-Oxley auditing requirements. The JOBS Act extended<br />

that period to a maximum of five years, or less if during the on-ramp<br />

period a company achieves $1 billion in gross revenue, $700 million in<br />

public float, or issues more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the<br />

previous three years.<br />

Additionally, the JOBS Act changed some existing limitations on<br />

how companies can solicit private investments from “accredited inves-<br />

Strengthening the Financial System | 415

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