On March 4, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued a proposed rule on ways to simplify, harmonize and improve certain aspects of the exempt offering framework to promote capital formation while preserving important investor protections.
- The Proposed Rule is substantially informed by public input that was provided in response to the SEC’s June 2019 concept release on the harmonization of securities offering exemptions.
- The goal of the Proposed Rule is to reduce the unnecessary complexity within the offering framework and to allow market participants to navigate through the exempt offering framework more easily.
- The changes outlined in the Proposed Rule could bring a wider variety of investors and distribution channels back into the market for issuers, including for BDCs, and such expansion would increase the availability of capital and allow more flexibility for BDC fundraising activities.
