[中/英]关于2016年众筹规范的五点猜想

美国证券交易委员会(SEC)新规则出台后，对创业企业的投资门槛有望降低。

大众筹资规范，也被称作众筹规范（或3号方案），将使得创业投资的大门向所有投资者敞开，而此前公司只能从授信投资者那里获得资本。

这是一个重大的变化，但是并不意味众筹投资者会蜂拥进入私募股权市场。一方面，这项法规发挥效力需要一定时间，另一方面，众筹对很多创业企业来说并不是最佳选择。

以下是关于2016年众筹规范影响的五点猜想。

1. 预期一大批在线平台将在美国金融监管局（FINRA）注册

美国证券交易委员会(SEC)将要求所有众筹交易中间商（例如CircleUp,SeedInvest,my

firm,和FlashFunders等）在”全国证券协会”——美国金融监管局注册，该组织是目前唯一一个全国性的证券协会。

交易平台将会从发行者处获取与发行的证券相同等级、期限、条款和权力的证券，作为对其提供服务的补偿。

2. 在2016年年中之前，别期望有公司能够进行股权众筹

公司在注册登记180天之后才能够适用众筹规范。这意味着第一批股权众筹最早也要等到2016年年中才能发行。

美国金融监管局将把所有交易中间商分为两种：”资金门户”和”经纪交易商”。

但是在2016年年中之前，仍然有一些未知因素：金融监管局批准交易中间商要花费多长时间？金融监管局是否会平带对待经纪交易商和资金平台呢？该机构是否会给资金入口和经纪交易商的数量设置上限？

3. 预期2016年D规章将在创业资本中继续发挥主导作用

2016年，授信投资者仍会是风险资本投资的主要来源。

需要大量资金的创业企业（往往需要超过一次融资发行）往往采用阻力最小的融资途径，该途径仍然是D规章（

译者注：D规章为私募和豁免登记发行提供了保障，即允许公司向所有授信投资者和35个未经授信的投资者募集资金，且募集资金的数量不受限制）。D规章使得公司获得投资可豁免SEC许可，只需在发售证券后提交D表格即可。

增长最快的创业企业将需要超过100万美元的投资，所以即使它们使用众筹规章，仍然需要依靠D规章来满足资本需求（众筹规章设有100万美元的年度筹款上限–译者注）。

4. 不要指望每一个筹资平台或中间商都能提供全套众筹服务，比如公司注册，财务审查、账务审计、年度报表等等

对于一些现有的交易平台来说，包揽众筹发行的所有法律、金融服务在经济上是不可行的。附加服务包括准备注册申请材料并递交给美国证券交易委员会，完成账务审查或审计，以及在发行结束后每年履行相应合规要求。

拥有自身法律和金融资源的交易平台或许可以通过把发行公司支付发行费用的时间推迟到发行结束这个方法来实现这个目的。对于创业企业来说，预先交付这笔费用非常困难，除非它们的融资额少于10万美元，在这种情况下它们只需要审核自己的财务报表即可。

5. 别指望创业企业有热情通过众筹融资超过50万美元

美国证券交易协会公布了对于通过众筹募集50万至100万美元需花费成本的估计额（美国证券交易协会正式规定第415至416页）。他们考虑了所有合规和交易商的成本之后，估计该费用大概包括，4.4万美元至9.4万美元的前期费用，以及每年3000美元至1.3万美元的事后费用来满足美国证券交易协会的申报要求。

结语

由于股权众筹和众筹规范成为了更加被认可的筹资工具，2016年对于风险投资市场的认证投资者来说将是关键的一年。在交易平台上同时从认证投资者和未认证投资者融资的前期成本和长期费用仍然是未知的，谜底将在明年揭晓。

Startups will soon be able to solicit investments from anyone, thanks to new SEC

rules.

The crowdfunding regulations, known as Reg CF (or Title III), open startup

equity to all investors, where before companies could only solicit capital from

accredited investors.

This is a big change, but it doesn’t mean that hoards of crowdfunding investors

will flood the private equity market yet. The shift needs time to take effect,

and even so, crowdfunding may not make the best sense for a lot of startups.

Here are five things to expect from the crowdfunding regulations in 2016.

1. Expect to see a flood of online platforms register with FINRA.

The SEC will require all intermediaries in crowdfunding transactions (for

example, CircleUp, SeedInvest, and my firm, FlashFunders) to register with “a

national securities association” – FINRA is now the only national securities

association.

Intermediary platforms will be able to have financial interests in issuers on

their own platforms as long as the intermediary receives the financial interest

from the issuer as compensation for the services provided through the

intermediary’s platform and the financial interest consists of securities of the

same class and having the same terms, conditions, and rights as the securities

being offered through the intermediary’s platform.

2. Don’t expect companies to be “equity crowdfunding” until mid-2016.

Title III regulations will not be actionable until 180 days after they’re

entered into the Federal Register. This means the first Title III offerings will

commence in mid-2016 at the earliest.

FINRA will bucket all intermediaries into two categories: “funding portals” and

“broker-dealers.”

But between now and mid-2016, there are still a few unknowns. How long will it

take for FINRA to approve intermediaries? Will FINRA treat broker-dealers and

funding platforms the same? Will FINRA cap the number funding portals and

broker-dealers up for approval?

3. Expect Reg D to continue to deliver the majority of capital to startups in

2016.

Accredited investors will still be the primary source of venture capital funding

in 2016.

Startups with serious traction (that tend to have more than one option) will use

the path of least resistance, which is still Regulation D. Reg D requires no SEC

approval prior to taking in funds, just a Form D after the sale of securities.

The fastest growing startups will need more than $1 million, so even if they use

Reg CF, they will need to rely on Reg D to fulfill their capital needs.

4. Don’t expect every fundraising platform or intermediary to provide all-in Reg

CF services, including Form C, financial reviews, audits, annual filings, etc.

Some existing platforms might not find it economically viable to wrap in all the

legal and financial services to conduct Reg CF offering. Additional services

will include preparing Form Cs and filing them with the SEC, fulfilling

financial reviews and/or audits, and delivering on the annual requirements after

rounds are closed.

Platforms with existing in-house legal and finance resources may be able to make

this process viable by deferring costs for companies until closing. It would be

tough for startups to pay for this up front unless their rounds are for less

than $100,000, which require only that the company certifies its own statements.

5. Don’t expect startups to be eager to raise more than $500K via Reg CF.

The SEC published its own estimates on what it might cost to raise between

$500,000 and $1 million via Reg CF (page 415-416 of the SEC Final Rules). They

considered all of the compliance and intermediary’s costs and estimated a

company’s cost to be between $44,000 and $94,000 up front, and $3,000 to $13,000

each year afterwards to fulfill annual SEC reporting requirements.

The bottom line

As equity crowdfunding and Reg CF become more widely recognized vehicles for

raising capital, 2016 will be the year the accredited investor puts a serious

stake in the venture capital game. The upfront costs and long-term implications

of raising funds from both accredited and unaccredited investors together on

intermediary platforms is still a murky process that the next year will

undoubtedly work to clarify.

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