By: Louis A. Bevilacqua, Joseph R. Tiano, Jr., David S. Baxter, Ali Panjwani and K. Brian Joe
On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), a bill with widespread bipartisan support and assembled from a combination of legislative initiatives introduced throughout 2011 targeting smaller companies and focusing on cheaper capital raising and job creation. We discuss the key provisions of the JOBS Act and their impact on these companies and securities offerings.
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) is a consolidation of several bills introduced throughout 20111 with the goal of making it easier for smaller companies to raise money and lessen their regulatory burden while doing so. The House of Representatives passed the JOBS Act on March 8 by a vote of 390-23, and the Senate passed the same bill, with one amendment, on March 22 by a vote of 73-26. The Senate amendment offered a more restrictive take on the House bill’s provisions dealing with the increasingly popular grass-roots financing method known as crowdfunding. On reconsideration of the bill with the Senate amendment, the JOBS Act passed the House by a vote of 380-41 on March 27, and President Obama signed it into law on April 5. The JOBS Act is one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation in recent years to be specifically targeted at developing companies. This Alert summarizes the most important provisions of the JOBS Act and the implications of those provisions.