SEC Releases Report and Recommendations on the 39th Annual Small Business Forum

The Securities and Exchange Commission today delivered a report to Congress on the 39th Annual Small Business Forum. The Forum is a unique event where members of the public and private sectors gather to craft suggestions for policy impacting emerging businesses and their investors, from startups to smaller public companies.  The Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation hosted the 2020 Forum on June 18, 2020 in a completely virtual format, which resulted in an inclusive event that engaged entrepreneurs, investors, market participants and other thought leaders from across the country.   The 2020 Forum report is now available for download online.

The 2020 Forum highlighted challenges and success stories from startups to small cap companies across the country and featured discussions about women-owned, minority-owned, and rural businesses and their investors, as well as the potential paths for the next generation of publicly-listed companies.  Video archives of the keynote addresses and spotlight discussions are available online. 

The report provides a summary of the Forum proceedings, including the recommendations developed by participants for changes needed to the capital raising framework, and the Commission’s responses to the recommendations.  The report seeks to incorporate the passion conveyed by the talented and thoughtful speakers and participants who spoke openly and candidly about their successes and challenges in capital formation, as well as ways that the framework could be updated to enable a more inclusive capital formation ecosystem.

The Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation thanks the speakers, participants, advisory planning group members, and SEC staff members who made this year’s virtual Forum a success.