JOBS Act of 2012: Ten Years of Legalized Investment Crowdfunding
Crowdfund Insider cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on outcome of the JOBS Act 10 years later:
CI also spoke with John Berlau, Senior Fellow & Director of Finance Policy, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and staunch defender of access to capital. He shared his thoughts on the anniversary:
“10 years ago, a GOP-controlled House, a Democrat-controlled Senate, and a Democratic president came together to lighten the regulatory burden on America’s upstart job creators,” Berlau said. “On its 10th Anniversary, the JOBS Act can be called an unequivocal bipartisan deregulatory success. If not as far-reaching in its deregulatory scope as other bipartisan achievements such as airline and telecom deregulation, the JOBS Act has resulted in significant gains for startup entrepreneurs and middle-class investors, including women and minorities.”
Berlau said the JOBS Act lifted and relaxed longstanding and recent regulatory barriers that hindered entrepreneurs’ access to capital and investors’ access to wealth creation from startup and emerging growth companies.
“In Congress, it had been pushed by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) – now Ranking Member on the Senate Banking Committee – and Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) – now Ranking Member on the House Financial Services Committee – along with Representatives David Schweikert (R-AZ), Darrell Issa (R-CA), former Representative Stephen Fincher (R-TN). Much more needs to be done for startups and emerging growth firms – including Toomey’s bill and stopping new threats to smaller public and private firms like the SEC’s pending climate disclosure rule — but it’s worth looking back to see the real gains for America’s small and innovative companies that resulted from this unique bipartisan legislation. The modest deregulation from the JOBS Act has made it easier for innovative firms both to go public and to raise capital while staying private.”