Business News
Seattle mobile advertising startup HasOffers publicly announced earlier this week that it has raised a $9.4 million series A round. Included in the investments were a few prominent Seattle tech investors. The round was led by California-based venture group Accel Partners, and also included Seattle-based Founder’s Co-op principal Chris DeVore, and RealNetworks founder and CEO Rob Glaser.
HasOffers has been bootstrapped until now. The company won “Bootstrapper of the Year” at last year’s GeekWire Awards for building a profitable, 79-person company… Read the rest
Yesterday the SEC announced that Geoffrey Aronow would be the next general counsel of the SEC. Aronow, an attorney at the Washington D.C. offices of Bingham McCutchen, will be returning to the public sector once again, after working for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the late 1990′s.
The SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro resigned last month, and a number of other officers including Mark Cahn, then serving as general counsel, left with her. Elisse Walter, already a member of the Commission, was named as the interim Chairwoman in the wake of Ms. Schapiro’s departure. But the… Read the rest
Securities Regulation
Consumer advocacy group urges SEC to reconsider rules lifting ban on general solicitation
Consumer Federation of America submitted a comment letter to the SEC expressing its, “strong opposition to the Commission’s proposed rule to lift the ban on general solicitation and advertising in private offerings.” On August 29th, the SEC issued proposed rules which would implement Title II of the JOBS Act, allowing companies issuing securities pursuant to Rule 506 to utilize general solicitation under certain conditions. The Consumer Federation of America identified a number of substantive and procedural concerns, including:
- That the standard for “reasonable
Securities Regulation
SEC Issues Proposed Rules to Implement Title II of the JOBS Act
Last Wednesday the SEC submitted for comment proposed rules to implement Title II of the JOBS Act, which would remove the prohibition on general solicitation for certain private placement offerings.
The highlights from the proposed rules:
- The current 506 exemption will remain in place, and 506(c) will provide for the new rule, which lifts the ban on general solicitation.
- The SEC is proposing a flexible “facts and circumstances” test to
Securities Laws
SEC Pushes Back Proposed JOBS Act Rules, Again
Last week we wrote about how the SEC was opting to issue proposed rules for Title II of the JOBS Act at its August 22nd meeting, rather than implementing interim rules, as had been anticipated. But on August 21st, just a day before the proposed rules were set to be unveiled, the SEC issued a notice that the rules would not be proposed until August 29th. We’ll update update… Read the rest
Securities Law
SEC Further Delays Ruling on Title II of JOBS Act
The SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has informed members of Congress that the SEC will delay implementing rules that would give effect to Title II of the JOBS Act, which will remove the general solicitiation ban of securities offered under Rule 506. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the coming changes to Rule 506, which were thought to be taking effect as early as August 22nd, will not take effect until this fall at… Read the rest
Mergers & Acquisitions
Google to Acquire Frommer’s Travel Guides
Google is acquiring Frommer’s travel guides brand in a reported $23 million deal. $23 million is a drop in the bucket for Google, but the acquisition is an important indicator of the company’s somewhat controversial intent to dip further into the content business. Consumer Watchdog is calling for federal regulators to block the acquisition on antitrust grounds, alleging that Google favors companies it owns in organic search results.
Business Financing
The Alberleen Group–A New Type of Incubator
… Read the rest
