As it works on Crowdfunding regulations, the Securities and Exchange Commission is in a tough position, as we described here.
If the SEC’s job were not tough enough already – interpreting a brand-new, complicated concept with very little Congressional direction – it has just become tougher as Red State/Blue State politics has entered the equation.
Previously a group of Senators, all Democrats, sent a letter criticizing the regulations the SEC proposed to implement “Rule 506 Crowdfunding,” where the JOBS Act, for the first time, allows mass solicitation of investors in certain securities offerings.
Now a group of eleven different Senators, all Republicans, have sent their own letter praising those same regulations [Bill, see page 10 for confirmation]. In the view of the Republicans, the regulations proposed by the SEC properly implement the intent of the JOBS Act, contrary to the judgment of their Democratic colleagues.
There are two ironies: one, the two groups of Senators disagreeing about what the JOBS Act means, after both voting for the identical language; and second, the group of Republican Senators praising the work of President Obama’s SEC in the face of Democratic criticism.
For the SEC, however, the back-and-forth means one more headache, trying to produce workable JOBS Act regulations in the partisan atmosphere of Washington, D.C.
Questions? Contact Mark Roderick at Flaster/Greenberg PC.