We’ve discussed compliance at length and how it’s essential for building trust within the private capital markets. But what happens when you’re not compliant? The SEC will eventually find out and impose penalties to issuers that fail to meet securities regulations, as ten Regulation A+ (RegA+) issuers recently learned. These recent violations can serve as a cautionary tale to issuers.
Companies selling securities to raise capital generally have to register with the SEC and comply with other rules that can be expensive and onerous for smaller companies, so RegA+ allows exemptions from registration, provided certain other conditions are met. In its press release, the SEC announced that 10 RegA+ issuers failed to comply with these conditions. The SEC reported that each issuer was previously qualified to sell securities under RegA+, but subsequently made significant changes to the offering so that it no longer met exemption requirements. These changes included “improperly increasing the number of shares offered, improperly increasing or decreasing the price of shares offered, failing to file updated financial statements at least annually for ongoing offerings, engaging in prohibited at the market offerings, or engaging in prohibited delayed offerings.”
These regulations are not just arbitrary demands by the SEC; they exist to protect investors and the integrity of the system as a whole. For example, changing the offering price without getting those changes cleared by the SEC is a concern because it could be a vector for fraud or money laundering; issuing securities for a different price conceals the actual amount of money changing hands. Similarly, making unsanctioned changes to offering terms can erode investor confidence. Ideally, each investor conducted their own due diligence before investing – they felt comfortable with the terms listed in offering documents qualified by the SEC. Changing these terms without notifying investors and having changes approved by the SEC just isn’t fair play.
The ten issuers cited by the SEC violated these principles and got caught. Each company agreed to stop violating the Securities Act and to pay civil penalties that ranged from $5,000 to $90,000. In the press release, Daniel R. Gregus, Director of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office was quoted saying: “Companies that choose to benefit from Regulation A as a cost-effective way to raise capital must meet its requirements.”
These penalties serve as a reminder that issuers must be careful when making changes to their offering after qualification. Working with an experienced securities attorney and broker-dealer can help to mitigate some of this risk, but ultimately, it is the issuer’s responsibility to meet all securities regulations.
