We are glad to report that the Staff Standards of Conduct Implementation Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a virtual roundtable to discuss how compliance with Form CRS and Regulation Best Interest is proceeding across the industry. Personnel from FINRA, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, the Division of Trading and Markets, and the Division of Investment Management will participate in this virtual roundtable on October 26, 2020, from 1 PM to 3 PM eastern time. The event will be open to the public through both a live webcast and an archived replay.
Read More
Since the pandemic began, the stock market has gone up and down so often, like a yoyo. Even the experts aren’t quite sure what will happen in the future. Just ask nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage. “I think we’re in more uncertain times than any I’ve seen since back in the early seventies.”, cited by PBS’s Next Avenue.
So how should we invest our hard-earned money amid such uncertainty? Amid all the panic, it’s worth noting that in August, the S&P 500 stood at a record high since March. As reported by The New York Times in August, the market had rebounded after a collapse of almost 34 percent in February and March – an economic collapse not seen since the Great Depression. According to the article, this improvement reflects “a remarkable rally of more than 50 percent that has underscored the dissonance that sometimes exists between the markets and the economy.”
Read More
Crowdfunding trends suggest that cryptocurrency and other forms of tokenized assets are becoming increasingly important to everyday investors in 2020, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic age. In the U.S., cryptocurrency is increasingly in the mainstream, with the federal government and big banks seriously weighing some exciting new initiatives.
Read More
The U.S. economy has suffered greatly due to the pandemic and associated shutdowns. The second quarter of 2020 broke records as the U.S. GDP shrunk by 32.9%, which is the seasonally adjusted annual rate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Compared with the record of 10% annualized GDP shrinkage in 1958, this latest report is staggering. According to NPR, it’s also almost four times that of the worst quarter of the Great Recession. Furthermore, compared to the same period last year, the overall economy has shrunk by 9.5%.
Read More
As private companies wait longer before going public, their options for secondary liquidity remain limited. Last month, blockchain pioneer tZERO Group, Inc., announced record trading volume for its subsidiary, tZERO ATS, an Alternative Trading System for both security tokens and U.S. equities. With 816,000 digital securities traded in July, tZERO ATS experienced its strongest month yet, surpassing its previous record of 423,000 traded digital securities in May, as reported by Forbes. Notably, tZERO now accounts for about 95% of security token trade volume and 80% of total token dollar value, according to tZERO Group CEO Saum Noursalehi in a company newswire.
Read More
Traditional 401(k) options include managed funds and options to invest in certain stocks and bonds. Now, the private placement market may start to see increased 401(k) activity as well, providing expanded investment options. On June 3, the U.S. Department of Labor released guidance indicating that certain 401(k) funds may invest in private equity. The managers of those funds have certain fiduciary duties that uphold their beneficiaries’ trust in them. The question is, are private equity investments right for you or your employees?
Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has scheduled an open meeting of the Commission to address several regulatory issues including an update to the current definition of an Accredited Investor. You can read more details about the meeting on Crowdfund Insider.
The meeting of the Commission will take place on August 26, 2020, at 10 AM ET and is open to the public and will be streamed live on SEC’s website .
For frequent questions related to accredited investors please visit https://www.verifyinvestor.com/support
Read More
The United States has experienced rising housing costs, now complicated by COVID-19 and the associated eviction crisis. Governments and communities alike are on the hunt for effective strategies. Crowdfunding trends may be the solution, with the potential to raise capital for affordable housing initiatives on a local level and beyond.
Read More
Following the 2008 Great Recession and its associated banking crisis, Bitcoin and other alternatives to traditional banks and currencies have continued to gain more appeal as long-term stores of value. As we make our way through the economic fallout of a global pandemic, this ongoing trend has become more apparent for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Read More
For businesses ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and related shutdowns, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act back in March of this year. Part of that act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has provided billions of dollars in relief to about 5 million small businesses and nonprofits, along with some larger firms. Since implementing the program in March, the federal government has been expanding and modifying it so that more businesses may take advantage of the loans and keep their employees on the payroll. Below are some updates on this important legislation that will serve as a lifeline for many of our clients.
Read More