The Next British Invasion is Securities Crowdfunding: How Issuing Non-Registered Securities Through the Crowd Can Succeed in the United States

Authors

Robert H. Steinhoff

Abstract

Securities crowdfunding is the novel concept of using the power of the Internet to raise business capital through the "crowd." British companies and investors have proven adept at using the relatively new medium of crowdfunding as a means of providing much needed capital to startups and other small businesses. This Comment examines securities crowdfunding in the United Kingdom in an effort to show how this means of capital formation might succeed in the United States once the SEC implements proposed rules exempting crowdfunded securities from registration. Other commentators have already provided ample criticism of the crowdfunding exemption in the JOBS Act, but none has yet to examine how this flawed legislation might add value to American entrepreneurial finance. This Comment asserts that securities crowdfunding stakeholders will likely overcome these regulatory hurdles to develop a robust market in the United States-particularly with regard to debt securities-that will be similar to the market in the United Kingdom. *

Recommended Citation

Robert H. Steinhoff, The Next British Invasion is Securities Crowdfunding: How Issuing Non-Registered Securities Through the Crowd Can Succeed in the United States, 86 U. Colo. L. Rev. 661 (2015).
Available at: https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/lawreview/vol86/iss2/7