Other

Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation

July 14, 2017

The SEC hosts an annual forum that focuses on the capital formation concerns of small business. Called the "SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation," this gathering has assembled annually since 1982, as mandated by the Small Business Investment Incentive Act of 1980. A major purpose of the Forum is to provide a platform to highlight perceived unnecessary impediments to small business capital formation and address whether they can be eliminated or reduced. Each forum seeks to develop recommendations for government and private action to improve the environment for small business capital formation, consistent with other public policy goals, including investor protection. Participants in the Forum typically have included small business executives, venture capitalists, government officials, trade association representatives, lawyers, accountants, academics and small business advocates. In recent years, the format of the Forum typically has emphasized small interactive breakout groups developing recommendations for governmental action.

2017 Forum — The SEC partnered with the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, Growth, and Renewal at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin to host the SEC’s annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation on Thursday, November 30, 2017. The one-day forum began at 9 a.m. Central Time and was open to the public. It was held at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin at 1900 University Avenue.

The 2017 Forum included a morning panel followed by breakout groups. The panel discussion explored how capital formation options are working for small businesses, including small businesses in Texas. Information on the panel participants, the full agenda and further details on this year’s Forum are posted below. Opening remarks and the morning panel discussion was webcast live on the SEC’s home page at www.SEC.gov and is archived. The breakout groups, in which participants worked to formulate specific policy recommendations, followed the panel discussion and was not webcast, but was accessible by telephone conference call to pre-registered members of the public not in attendance

The following Forum materials are available:

To suggest topics and recommendations for facilitating small business capital formation to be considered at the 2018 Forum, or for questions concerning the Forum, please direct them to the attention of Anthony Barone in the SEC Office of Small Business Policy at (202) 551-3460, or BaroneA@sec.gov , or 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549-3628.

Previous Forums − Final Reports of the SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation since June 1993.