Tag: Form D

Firms Dinged for Form D Failures, or Something More(?)

The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against three firms for failing to file Form D on time.

Under Rule 503 of Regulation D, an issuer offering or selling securities in reliance on Rule 504 or 506 must file a notice of sales on Form D with the SEC no later than 15 calendar days after the first sale of securities in the offering. You don’t lose the exemption for a failure to file, but failing to file is a violation of the Securities Act.

The SEC targeted GRID 202 LLC, Pipe Technologies Inc., and Underdog Sports Holdings, Inc. for failing to file. Foot-fault. Easy action by the SEC.

What caught my attention was each of the three orders also stated that the firm engaged in general solicitation and contacted more than [285, 140, or several hundred] prospective investors.

Because Respondent engaged in general solicitation, the offerings could not have been conducted as exempt offerings under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and therefore could not have been conducted without reliance on Rule 504 or Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. Accordingly, Respondent needed to file a Form D for each offering, but Respondent failed to timely file Forms D for all of these offerings.

It would have been great if the SEC had said what action made those contact “general solicitation” instead of mere “solicitation.” But the orders provide no insight and just state the conclusion that it was general solicitation.

We are just left with reminder to file Form D within 15 calendars of your first sale of interests in a private offering.

Sources:

Ignoring Changes to Regulation D

compliance and ignore this sign
While many embraced lifting the ban on general solicitation and advertising, most despised the additional mess that the SEC added in. Fortunately, you can probably ignore much of that mess. At least for a few months.

We knew that the SEC was going to require that firms selling public private-placements were going to have to take some reasonable steps to confirm that the purchasers were actually accredited investors. Congress wrote that into the JOBS Act. (Although I suspect they would have written it differently if they knew the end result.)

Based on the July 10 SEC meeting, 506(c) and 506(d) go into effect on September 23. The dreaded changes to Form D and Rule 156 do not. Those are only proposed rules.

SEC Chairman Mary Jo White made this obvious in a recent letter response to Congressman McHenry.

It’s clear that funds can use the public private-placement regime under Rule 506(c) on September 23, 2013. The current rules on filing the Form D are in place. There will be no requirement to file the advertisements with the SEC. There will be no required legends on the advertisements.

For now.

The changes to Form D and the advertising legends are merely in a proposed rule. The SEC may abandon its concerns and not issue a final rule. (unlikely) The SEC may make significant changes to the rule. (possibly)

Chairman White makes it clear that there will need to be some transitional guidance for offerings that commence before the effective date of the final rule. So you can ignore the proposals.

But the proposed rule is clearly a signal that the SEC wants to do something more for private placements. I would guess that some form of the rule will be adopted before the end of the year. The mutual fund industry will be furious that their product advertisements are weighed down with disclaimers, while cowboy hedge funds are all over the place and grabbing bigger fees.

There are signs ahead. But we can ignore them for now.

References:

Ignore This Sign, 2004
Marietta, Georgia, USA
Hacking the City, by Brad Downey

The SEC’s Office of Inspector General and Form D

sec-oig

The SEC’s Office of Inspector General has released its Semiannual Report to Congress (.pdf). I started off looking at how the OIG feels about the new Form D for securities sold under the Regulation D exemption: “Based on our review of Form D, we determined that certain revisions should be made to the form to better ensure that potential investors are not misled by information in a form filing and to further clarify the information that is reported on the form.” [Page 32]

Electronic Filing of Form D and Amendments Becomes Mandatory on March 16

Beginning March 16, 2009, Form D filings are required to be made electronically on EDGAR. See SEC Release No. 33-8891 (February 6, 2008).  Form D is commonly used for offerings made under the Rule 506 safe harbor to accredited investors. While the filing of a Form D is not a condition to the exemption, it is a requirement pursuant to SEC Rule 503.

To prepare for the transition, issuers need to obtain access codes for the SEC’s EDGAR system.

The electronic format is intended to make it easier for the SEC and state regulators  to spot compliance problems in private offerings.  As Katten points out in its client advisory:

Form D filers should also be aware of the federal and state regulatory enforcement implications of the Form D data being readily available to the regulators. For example, whenever placement commissions are contemplated, an issuer should obtain the proposed recipient’s CRD number in advance to confirm that the placement agent is properly registered with the SEC and with any state in which it intends to make solicitations. There is little doubt that the states (and possibly also the SEC) will be screening this aspect of the filing for persons acting in a placement capacity without appropriate licensure.

In a client alert from Goodwin Procter, they summarize three choices for filing in the near future, depending on your business plan:

Electronic Form D Amendments. Electronic amendments may – and starting March 16, 2009 must – be made using the new Form D adopted by the SEC. Electronically filed Form Ds will be publicly searchable through the EDGAR system, and involve new disclosure requirements, including: (i) the date of first sale of Fund securities; (ii) a CRD registration number for every person who receives compensation for sales of Fund securities, including brokers, dealers and finders; and (iii) the specific exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 upon which the Fund may be relying (e.g., Section 3(c)(7)). Electronic amendments will be most appropriate for Funds that expect to continue an ongoing offering after March 16, 2009, particularly open-end Funds.

Paper Amendments Using New Form D. The SEC has provided a transition period during which issuers can make filings using a paper version of the new electronic Form D. After the transition period ends on March 15, 2009, all Form D filings must be made electronically. This method may be appropriate for Funds that wish to manage the time schedule of their transition to the new electronic Form D and defer obtaining EDGAR access codes until a later date.

Paper Amendments Using Temporary Form D. Issuers also have the option to file a paper amendment using a Temporary Form D that is essentially the same as the previous paper Form D. This method may be appropriate for Funds that wish to defer disclosures on the new Form D because they expect their securities offering to cease in the near future.

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