The Low-Down on Crowdfunding
Posted in Uncategorized on February 17th, 2012 by Bert Seither – Be the first to comment
Crowd funding is defined by Wikepedia as follows: describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowdfunding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns, to funding a startup company or small business or creating free software.
The concept described above is responsible for stirring quite the debate on Capitol Hill. This new internet-savvy way of gaining capital pushes boundaries in regards to many rules, regulations, and decades-old securities regulations. But times are tough out there, and it is quite difficult for many startup companies to obtain the loans that they need to begin their business ventures. In order to stimulate economic growth and provide more attainable funding for those who wish to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, Congress is debating whether or not to make exceptions to the laws which have been prohibitive to crowdfunding across the nation.
For example, Jared Hardy, co-founder of Fargo Beer Co., obtained the capital that his company needed by utilizing a crowdfunding site called ProFounder Financial Inc. However, this company, based out of West Hollywood, California, was recently forced to shut down by California securities regulators. “They were acting as a broker without being licensed as a broker dealer,” says Preston DuFauchard, the commissioner for the California Department of Corporations. By this statement, DuFauchard is referring to the fact that PrFounder had technically been providing online sales of equity stakes in small businesses, without being licensed to do so. Or were they? The organization says that their site simply provides a way for entrepreneurs to tap into their friends, family, or other networks for money, in exchange for stakes in the businesses. Jessica Jackley, co-founder, says “If every [Web] start-up had to become a broker dealer to raise money for small businesses, it would be too prohibitive,” she says.
You may be asking why these companies do not just register to become broker-dealers? Well, the answer to that comes back to the very problem these companies are trying to solve; they don’t have the money! Costs of taking the necessary actions to register could total from anywhere to an extra $10,000-$30,000 a year! Congress is starting to sympathize. A bill which will let companies sell up to $2 million in equity online, with investors buying stakes of up to $10,000 year, or 10% of their annual income, whichever is less, was approved by the house two weeks ago. However, while this bill will please many crowd funding companies, it is upsetting many who have taken the necessary actions and have gone through the broker-dealer registration process.
Do you think that crowdfunding companies should have to register as official broker-dealers? Corporate Tax Network wants to know what you guys think! You can give us some feedback by checking out our pages on Facebook, Google+ and on Twitter!










