Earlier this month, the US House of Representative’s Financial Services Committee (the “Committee”) held a hearing entitled “The Future of American Capital: Strengthening Public and Private Markets by Increasing Investor Access and Facilitating Capital Formation.” During the hearing, the Committee examined over thirty bills and is soliciting feedback from the public on these bills, as well as related measures. A list of the bills being considered can be found here.
The Committee also posed several questions to the public covering topics related to access to capital, investor access and participation, the public market and company lifecycle and technology and artificial intelligence.
The questions concerning public companies include the following:
- What are the greatest challenges companies of all sizes, entrepreneurs, and fund managers face when raising capital? What policy solutions could help?
- The JOBS Act and other initiatives have broadened capital access. What aspects of the JOBS Act have been most effective? What improvements are needed?
- Beyond traditional lending and equity finance, what alternative funding models (e.g., revenue-based financing, tokenization, secondary markets) should policymakers consider?
- What are the biggest barriers preventing companies from going public in the United States? How can policy reforms ease this transition from a private company to publicly traded?
- What regulatory or market structure challenges do small public companies face? How can they be addressed through policy reforms?
- How should policymakers approach the changing landscape where companies stay private longer or seek non-IPO exits? Are there ways to improve liquidity in private markets and ease pathways to public markets?
A full list of the questions can be found here. Responses are sought by March 31, 2025. This is an important opportunity to provide input.
[View source.]
