SEC Ponders Allowing Crowdfunding for IPOs

Using an exchange

Up until now, crowdfunding has just been a way for consumers to give money to inventors concocting newfangled things ranging from Big Wheel bikes for grown-up and smartphones. But soon, it could become a way to actually invest in those companies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to propose rules that, for the first time, would allow investors to buy stock in companies over the Internet using a crowdfunding exchange. These rules could reinvent the way that companies raise money by allowing them to bypass the traditional costs of going public, which usually involved hiring costly investment bankers and accountants.

The SEC's vote on so-called equity crowdfunding is in direct response to Title III of the JOBS Act, passed last year, in which Congress is looking for a loophole to allow smaller companies to get an exemption from the strict rules controlling the sale of securities to individuals. Congress is hoping that by using Internet crowdfunding, small and promising companies could gather capital needed to grow and expand from a wide pool of investors. These companies could, in theory, raise money they need to grow well before they could afford the relatively high costs of a traditional initial public offering.