Fix Crowdfunding Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate.
Fix Crowdfunding Act
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Securities Act of 1933 to allow a crowdfunding issuer to sell shares through a crowdfunding vehicle.
(Crowdfunding is a method of capital formation in which groups of people pool money, typically composed of small individual contributions, and often via Internet platforms, either to invest in a company or to support an effort by others to accomplish a specific goal.)
A "crowdfunding vehicle" is a company that:
has purposes limited to acquiring, holding, and disposing securities issued by a single company in one or more transactions and made pursuant to crowdfunding exemption transaction requirements;
issues only one class of securities;
receives no compensation for such acquisition, holding, or disposition of securities;
is a co-issuer with the company whose securities it holds; and
meets specified requirements related to disclosure obligations and the use of investment advisers.
(Sec. 3) The bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the conditions upon which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shall exempt securities issued in crowdfunding transactions from SEC registration requirements.
Under current law, holders of crowdfunded shares do not count toward the shareholder threshold beyond which an issuer is required to register its securities with the SEC, provided that the issuer: (1) is current in its annual reporting obligations, (2) retains the services of a registered transfer agent, and (3) has less than $25 million in assets. The bill maintains this exemption but removes and replaces the conditions upon which it applies. Specifically, holders of crowdfunded shares shall not count toward the shareholder threshold if the issuer has: (1) a public float of less than $75 million, and (2) annual revenues of less than $50 million.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on July 5, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Received in the Senate.
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The record's latest action, on July 6, 2016: Received in the Senate.
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In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Patrick McHenry (R-NC) introduced it on March 23, 2016, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 23, 2016, 3823 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3718 days ago, on July 6, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
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Vote history
- HouseReceived in the Senate.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action