Many people believe most capital is raised by companies (issuers) making initial public offerings, or trading on major exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market. Notable 2017 examples include Snap! (the parent company for social media app Snapchat) and real estate site Redfin.

Generally, issuers must register publicly offered securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – a process involving extensive information reporting and expense.

However, most companies opt to raise capital from the private markets through private offerings exempt from registration if certain conditions are met, which reduces their regulatory burden, costs, and time required to raise new capital.

Private offerings have increased substantially since the beginning of the Great Recession.¹ A large portion is raised through Regulation D, which is comprised of three rules: Rule 504, Rule 506(b), and Rule 506(c). Between 2009 and 2014, 10 times as many private Regulation D offers were made (about 163,000) as there were public offerings (about 15,500).²

Rule 506 Key Terms

Today, more than 90 percent of issuers engaging in private offerings use the exemptions available under Rule 506. Two key terms applying to Rule 506 exemptions are “accredited investor” and “bad actor.”

An accredited investor³ can be:

• Institutional, such as a bank, private business development company, or certain types of charitable organizations and trusts;
• A person associated with the issuer, such as a director, executive officer, or general partner;
• Individual investors who meet net worth or income requirements:
• Income: Individual or joint income must have exceeded $200,000 or $300,000 respectively in the previous two years (with no reasonable expectations of a change in the current year); or
• Net worth: the investor’s individual or joint net worth must exceed $1 million (excluding the value of the investor’s primary residence); or
• An entity in which all equity owners are accredited investors.

If certain persons or entities involved in the offer and sale of the issuer’s securities engage in conduct that constitutes a “disqualifying event” under the definition of a bad actor, the issuer cannot use Regulation D exemptions.⁴

“Covered persons” include:

• The issuer, its predecessors and affiliated issuers;
• The issuer’s directors, executive officers, general partners, managing members, and any other participating officers;
• Beneficial owners of 20 percent or more of the issuer’s voting securities;
• Promoters;
• Investment managers (if the issuer is a pooled investment fund); and
• Any person compensated for soliciting investors.

Disqualifying events⁵ include:

• Criminal convictions, court injunctions and restraining orders involving the purchase or sale of securities, falsified SEC filings, or other securities related business.
• Final orders of certain state and federal regulators, certain SEC orders, and U.S. Postal Service false representation orders.
• Suspensions or expulsions from memberships in a self-regulatory organization (SRO) such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or from association with an SRO member.

Only events occurring after Sept. 23, 2013, are disqualifying.⁶ Disqualifying events occurring before Sept. 23, 2013 must still disclosed to prospective investors.⁷ A “look-back” period of five to 10 years may apply, measured from the date of the disqualifying event. For example, the date of the final order issued by a state securities regulator triggers the look-back period – not the date(s) of the underlying conduct.

There are some exceptions to bad actor disqualification. The issuer may not be disqualified if it shows it did not know and could not have reasonably known that a disqualified person participated in the offering, or the court or regulatory authority entering the relevant order, judgment, or decree advises in writing that disqualification under the rule should not result as a consequence.⁸

Rule 506(b) and (c): Solicitation and Advertising Permitted In Some Offerings

In 2012, Title II of the JOBS Act amended Rule 506, directing the SEC to permit general solicitation and advertising in some Rule 506 offerings.

As a result, the Rule 506(c) exemption allowing for general solicitation and advertising so long as all investors are accredited became effective Sept. 23, 2013. Rule 506(b) preserves Rule 506 as it existed before the adoption of Rule 506(c).

The exemptions under Rules 506(b) and (c) share several characteristics. Under both:

• Issuers may raise an unlimited amount of funds through the offer and sale of its securities to unlimited accredited investors;
• Before the sale of securities, issuers must decide what information should be provided to accredited investors, and ensure that it does not violate antifraud provisions of the securities laws; and
• The securities are not subject to the specific registration requirements of states where they are offered and sold, in contrast to Rule 504. While issuers must still file a notice form and pay a fee to the state(s) where the securities will be offered, there are no additional requirements above what is needed to complete Form D. Some states mandate electronic filing of Rule 506 document through the Electronic Filing Depository (EFD).⁹

The 506(b) Exemptions and Relationships

In addition to raising unlimited funds from accredited investors, an issuer may sell its securities to up to 35 non-accredited investors under the 506(b) exemption.

The issuer must reasonably believe each non-accredited investor has enough knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to properly evaluate the investment, otherwise known as the “sophistication” requirement, which is somewhat open to interpretation. Frequently, an issuer requires the prospective investor to complete a questionnaire certifying the investor as accredited or non-accredited, and if not, whether the investor has sufficient knowledge or experience in financial and business matters to make an informed decision about the investment.

Issuers must provide non-accredited investors with disclosure documents about the issuer and its securities depending on the offering size, and any information distributed to accredited investors. ¹⁰

Advertising in connection with the offer or sale of 506(b) exempt securities is strictly prohibited. Issuers may approach investors if a substantive, pre-existing relationship exists.

506(c): More Stringent Requirements

Unlike 506(b), under 506(c) an issuer may advertise the offer and sale of its securities through social media, email, and more traditional media (print and radio). No substantive pre-existing relationship with the prospective investor is required.

However, an issuer relying on 506(c) may only sell to accredited investors, and more stringent requirements apply for verifying the investor is accredited than under 506(b).

Self-verification by a prospective investor of accredited status is insufficient - the onus is on the issuer to verify accredited status under 506(c). The SEC suggested several non-exhaustive ways to meet the verification requirement for accredited investors under 506(c)(2)(ii)(A)-(D):

• Income verification. Review investor’s two most recent years’ tax returns and obtain the investor’s written representation of a reasonable expectation of reaching the necessary income level in the current year.
• Net worth verification. Review bank and/or brokerage statements, tax assessments, or independent appraisal reports within the prior three months plus the investor’s written representation that all liabilities necessary for determining net worth were disclosed.
• Third party verification. Confirmation from a broker, investment adviser, attorney, or CPA verifying the investor met the accredited investor requirements in the past three months.
• Prior investor self-verification. If the investor purchased the same issuer’s securities as an accredited investor in a Rule 506(b) offering before Sept. 23, 2013, and continues to hold the securities, the issuer can obtain the investor’s certification at the time of the sale of securities under Rule 506(c) that he or she qualifies as an accredited investor.

An accredited investor qualifying based on joint annual income or net worth requires the issuer to review documentation for and obtain a written representation from both spouses.

The stricter verification requirements result from the possibility that participation of non-accredited investors in a 506(c) offering using advertising makes the issuer ineligible under both 506(b) and (c).

If an issuer using 506(c) does not advertise but inadvertently sells to a non-accredited investor, the filing can effectively be revised to a 506(b) exemption. However, once advertising is introduced, the offering will forever be a 506(c) offering and cannot be converted to a 506(b) offering allowing for sophisticated non-accredited investors.

Rule 506(c)’s Impact on Issuers

One big advantage of raising capital under Rule 506(c) is the ability to advertise to a far larger market than under Rule 506(b). However, issuers have been slow to embrace Rule 506(c), with the vast majority of Regulation D filings continuing to be made under Rule 506(b).

Perhaps the field of private offerings has prohibited advertising for so long that issuers are wary of using it without more regulatory guidance, or maybe it’s the more stringent verification requirements for ensuring all investors are accredited, especially where advertising is used pursuant to Rule 506(c).

Some third party platforms are attempting to bridge the gap as a middleman for accredited investors and issuers. These platforms verify investors’ accredited status for the issuers advertised through the platform, in exchange for compensation or some portion of the proceeds raised. The platform also accepts some responsibility for “drawing the line” for advertising content of the issuer.

While Congress intended Rule 506(c) to expand investment opportunities and access to capital, time will tell whether issuers take advantage of it.

Endnotes