Sunday, April 25, 2010

Status on the Proposed Dodd Legislation

Last week at the Texas Funding Symposium on April 21st we had a briefing from DLA Piper on the status of the Chris Dodd bill. For those who haven't heard, the Dodd bill proposes raising the requirements for who is considered an accredited investor and requires startups seeking funding to apply with the SEC first. These two among other provisions would make it much more difficult to fund startups for both the investor and the startup.

The primary group advocating on behalf of the angel investor is the Angel Capital Association. Through coordinated letter writing campaigns and targeted communications to Senators, the ACA leads the effort in getting the word on this proposed bill and having it modified.

To this end, some progress has been made. Liddy Carter of the ACA has made contact through the Connecticut Technology Council and has received some indication that the language in the bill will be modified. In this post it appears the Dodd team is listening to the angels and may side with them in the end.

Best regards,
Hall T.