May 10, 2012
A concern with the application of equity crowdfunding that I see is with the investment limits placed on investors. Aside from the over/under $100k confusion with the bill, any gains realized through an investment should not be excluded from reinvestment. What I mean by that is if an investor receives a dividend or is able to sell their shares after the 1 year limitation, that money should be allowed to be reinvested in other crowdfunded entities without counting against their yearly limits. A way to take care of this problem and the problem discussed in other's comments, that of tracking investor activity in relation to their individual limits, is with accounts that are similar to a brokerage account (Account). An investor would fund their Account according to the limits placed on them and intermediaries would only accept transfers from those accounts. Any dividends paid would be distributed through those accounts as well as a sale of the shares (after the one year limitation period).
Even if a separate account is not the way to go on this, I strongly believe that any returns from an equity crowdfunding investment should be allowed to be reinvested without counting towards the investors annual investing limits.