These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Equity Crowdfunding: A Market for Lemons? by Darian M. Ibrahim in the CLS Blue Sky Blog
Before reaching the more difficult Title III, I reveal that the less-radical Title II, which allows general solicitation of accredited investors, seems to have proven successful for entrepreneurs and investors in its first year of operation. Online platforms such as AngelList, FundersClub, and CircleUp have successfully matched entrepreneurs and accredited investors and raised significant cash for startups. This is somewhat surprising, at least on first analysis, considering: 1) that moving operations online would appear to weaken the close networks and geographic locality that explain traditional angel/VC success; and 2) that the first Internet matching service for startups and accredited investors, ACE-Net, failed miserably over a decade ago.
SEC Gets Busy With Accounting Investigations by Jean Eaglesham And
Michael Rapoport in the Wall Street Journal
But the new cases are on a smaller scale and typically involve conduct that is far less egregious than the accounting scandals of the early 2000s, such as the implosion of energy giant Enron Corp.
In addition, the agency’s computerized system for sniffing out accounting fraud has so far proved to be less revolutionary than many expected when it was unveiled in 2012.
’123456′ Again: The Most Popular Passwords Aren’t Changing by Rani Molla in the Wall Street Journal
Despite the high-profile hacking attacks last year, people are still using passwords that security analysts say should have been in the dustbin years ago. Both “123456″ and “password” have been the top two passwords since security-app provider SplashData began measuring the most frequently used passwords in 2011.
Refunds Some Fees to Investors by Mark Maremont in the Wall Street Journal
KKR & Co. refunded money to investors in some of its buyout funds after regulators found it overcharged them, marking one of the highest-profile results yet of regulators’ increased scrutiny of the private-equity business.
Meet The 80 People Who Are As Rich As Half The World by Mona Chalabi in FiveThirtyEight.com
Eighty people hold the same amount of wealth as the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people, according to an analysis just released from Oxfam. The report from the global anti-poverty organization finds that since 2009, the wealth of those 80 richest has doubled in nominal terms — while the wealth of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population has fallen.
11 of the wealthiest people on the planet were simply born into their money (19 others inherited their wealth and then made it grow). The remaining 50 names on the list, according to Forbes, are self-made billionaires.