Beyond Silicon Valley: Expanding Access to Capital Across America (EventID=118039)

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Connect with the House Financial Services Committee Get the latest news: https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USHouseFSC Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/USHouseFSC Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ushousefsc/ Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ushousefsc.bsky.social ___________________________________ On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) full Committee Chairman Hill and Ranking Member Waters will host a hearing entitled, “Beyond Silicon Valley: Expanding Access to Capital Across America." ___________________________________ Witnesses for this one-panel hearing will be: • Mr. Steve Case, Chairman and CEO, Revolution LLC • Mr. Bill Newell, Senior Business Advisor & Former CEO, Sutro Biopharma • Ms. Candice Matthews Brackeen, General Partner, Lightship Capital • Mr. Joel Trotter, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP • Ms. Amanda Senn, Director, Alabama Securities Commission ___________________________________ This hearing will examine the role of capital markets in fueling economic growth by supporting companies at various stages, from early-stage startups to established publicly traded firms, while expanding investment opportunities for retail investors. The Committee will analyze the impact and effectiveness of past legislative efforts designed to lower regulatory burdens and improve capital access. The Committee will revisit these legislative efforts, identify persistent regulatory challenges, and evaluate proposed policy improvements aimed at further promoting capital formation and economic innovation. Attached Legislation: 1. H.R. ___, the Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act (Hill): The discussion draft would expand the “accredited investor” definition to include individuals with certain licenses, qualifying education, or job experience. The qualifying licenses, education, and job experience would be determined by the SEC through rulemaking and verified by FINRA or an equivalent self-regulatory organization (SRO). 2. H.R. ___, the Accredited Investor Definition Review Act (Huizenga): The discussion draft would require the SEC to review the list of certifications, designations, and credentials for individuals to qualify as an accredited investor and add additional certifications, designations, and credentials that the SEC determines are substantially similar. This bill would require the SEC to repeat this process every five years after the initial assessment.. 3. H.R. ___, the Improving Access to Small Business Information Act (Kim): The discussion draft would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify that actions of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation are not a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. 4. H.R. ___, the Small Entity Update Act (Wagner): The discussion draft would direct the SEC to conduct a study, followed by a rulemaking consistent with the results of such study, including defining the term “small entity” under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. 5. H.R. ___, the Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act of 2025 (Flood): The discussion draft would expand the “accredited investor” definition to include individuals who are certified through an examination established by the SEC and administered by FINRA. 6. H.R. ___, the Encouraging Public Offerings Act of 2025 (Wagner): The discussion draft codifies Rule 163B under the Securities Act by allowing an issuer to communicate with potential investors to determine interest in a securities offering, either before or after the filing of a registration statement (i.e. test the waters). The bill also allows issuers to submit a confidential draft registration statement to the SEC for review prior to public filing. The bill updates the public filing condition to allow any issuer conducting an initial public offering to file its registration statement publicly 10 days before the effective date of the registration statement. 7. H.R. ___, a bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify certain registration statement contents for emerging growth companies, to permit issuers to file draft registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for confidential review, and for other purposes (Nunn): The discussion draft updates the EGC financial statement requirements to clarify that an EGC may present two years, rather than three years, of audited financial statements in both IPOs and spin-off transactions. The bill allows a spin-off of an EGC to benefit from the two-year financial statement accommodation, which is currently only available during an IPO. 8. H.R. ___, a bill to amend the Federal securities laws to specify the periods for which financial statements are required to be provided by an emerging growth company, and for... ___________________________________ Hearing page: https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/events/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=413084