§227.301. Measures to reduce risk of fraud. — Inbound Citations

(d) With respect to the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.) and §§ 227.100 through 227.503 of this chapter, to authorize the granting of applications under § 227.503(b)(2) of this chapter upon the showing of good cause that it is not necessary under the circumstances that the exemption under Regulation Crowdfunding be denied.

(2) An intermediary must provide all information that is required to be provided by the intermediary under subpart C of this part (§§ 227.300 through 227.305), including, but not limited to, educational materials, notices and confirmations, through electronic means. Unless otherwise indicated in the relevant rule of subpart C of this part, in satisfying this requirement, an intermediary must provide the information through an electronic message that contains the information, through an electronic message that includes a specific link to the information as posted on intermediary's platform, or through an electronic message that provides notice of what the information is and that it is located on the intermediary's platform or on the issuer's Web site. Electronic messages include, but are not limited to, email, social media messages, instant messages or other electronic media messages.

(2) An intermediary that is a funding portal must direct investors to transmit the money or other consideration directly to a qualified third party that has agreed in writing to hold the funds for the benefit of, and to promptly transmit or return the funds to, the persons entitled thereto in accordance with paragraph (e)(3) of this section. For purposes of this subpart C (§§ 227.300 through 227.305), a qualified third party means a:

(i) Registered broker or dealer that carries customer or broker or dealer accounts and holds funds or securities for those persons; or

(ii) Bank or credit union (where such credit union is insured by National Credit Union Administration) that has agreed in writing either to hold the funds in escrow for the persons who have the beneficial interests therein and to transmit or return such funds directly to the persons entitled thereto when so directed by the funding portal as described in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, or to maintain a bank or credit union account (or accounts) for the exclusive benefit of investors and the issuer.

(5) All records required to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of subparts C (§§ 227.300 through 227.305) and D (§§ 227.400 through 227.404) of this part;

For purposes of section 18(b)(3) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. 77r(b)(3)], a “qualified purchaser” means any person to whom securities are offered or sold pursuant to an offering under §§ 227.100 through 227.504 (Regulation Crowdfunding).

(4) Sections 227.100 through 227.503 of this chapter (Regulation Crowdfunding), on the earlier of the date the issuer first made an offer soliciting interest in a contemplated securities offering in reliance on § 227.206 of this chapter, or the public filing of a Form C offering statement; and

(a) For purposes of determining whether an issuer is required to register a security with the Commission pursuant to section 12(g)(1) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78l(g)(1)), the definition of held of record shall not include securities issued pursuant to the offering exemption under section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act (15 U.S.C. 77d(a)(6)) or §§ 227.100 through 227.504 (Regulation Crowdfunding) by an issuer that:

(1) Is current in filing its ongoing annual reports required pursuant to § 227.202 of this chapter;

(2) Has total assets not in excess of $25 million as of the end of its most recently completed fiscal year; and

(3) Has engaged a transfer agent registered pursuant to Section 17A(c) of the Act to perform the function of a transfer agent with respect to such securities.

(i) May exclude securities issued by a crowdfunding vehicle, as defined in § 270.3a-9(b)(2) of this chapter, in an offering under §§ 227.100 through 227.504 (Regulation Crowdfunding) in which the crowdfunding vehicle and the crowdfunding issuer are deemed to be co-issuers under the Securities Act (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.) and that are held by natural persons; and

(iii) An annual report filed pursuant to Regulation Crowdfunding (§§ 227.100 through 227.503 of this chapter); Provided, however, that, until such issuer has filed its first such annual report, the broker, dealer, or qualified interdealer quotation system has in its records a copy of the Form C filed by the issuer under Regulation Crowdfunding within the prior 16 months, together with any Form C/A and Form C/U filed thereafter under Regulation Crowdfunding;

(1) Is organized and operated for the sole purpose of directly acquiring, holding, and disposing of securities issued by a single crowdfunding issuer and raising capital in one or more offerings made in compliance with §§ 227.100 through 227.504 (Regulation Crowdfunding);

(10) Deny access to its platform to, or cancel an offering of an issuer, pursuant to § 227.301(c)(2), if the funding portal has a reasonable basis for believing that the issuer or the offering presents the potential for fraud or otherwise raises concerns about investor protection;