Pointing to our theme here of both markets and the regulatory environment adjusting favorably for the small cap public and the private company investment markets, today the SEC reduced the holding period for Rule 144 restricted stock from one year to six months.
The change will greatly help smaller public and private companies raise capital by easing the liquidity concerns of outside investors in these companies. Liquidity concerns are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges to overcome in securing investment in private placement transactions.
Quite simply, this change is great news and in our view will be part of a theme we will see over the next few years to ease the regulatory burden on smaller company financings.
Read the article here [1] on the change.
Links:
[1] http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/smbusiness/rule_144_small_cap.fsb/index.htm?section=magazines_fsb