The SEC and Small Capital Formation: The Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies (Part 1)

The Commission recently set up the Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.  Implemented under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the SEC announced the formation of the Committee in September 2011.  The committee is intended to focus on the capital raising needs of companies with less than $250 million in market capitalization.  The plan is to have the committee provide advice on: 

  • Capital raising through private placements and public securities offerings.
  • Trading in the securities of small and emerging and small publicly traded companies.
  • Public reporting requirements of such companies.

The committee has two chairs, Stephen M. Graham, Partner at Fenwick & West LLP in Seattle, and M. Christine Jacobs, CEO and Chairman at Theragenics Corp. in Buford, Ga.  In addition, the other members include: 

  • David A. Bochnowski, Chairman and CEO, Northwest Indiana Bancorp, Munster, Ind.
  • John J. Borer III, Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking, Rodman & Renshaw LLC, New York, N.Y.
  • Dan Chace, Manager, Wasatch Micro Cap Fund, Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Milton Chang, Managing Director, Incubic Venture Fund, Menlo Park, Calif.
  • Joseph (Leroy) Dennis, Partner, McGladrey & Pullen, Bloomington, Minn.
  • Shannon L. Greene, CFO, Tandy Leather Factory, Fort Worth, Texas
  • Kara B. Jenny, CFO, BlueFly Inc., New York, N.Y.
  • Steven R. LeBlanc, Senior Managing Director of External Private Market, Teacher Retirement System of Texas, Austin, Texas
  • Richard L. Leza, Chairman of the Board, Exar Corp., Fremont, Calif.
  • Paul Maeder, General Partner, Highland Capital Partners, Lexington, Mass.
  • Kathleen A. McGowan, Vice President - Finance, Tobira Therapeutics Inc., Manalapan, N.J.
  • Catherine V. Mott, CEO and Founder, Blue Tree Capital Group, Pittsburgh, Pa.
  • Karyn Smith, Deputy General Counsel, Zynga Inc., San Francisco, Calif.
  • Dan Squiller, CEO, PowerGenix, San Diego, Calif.
  • Charlie Sundling, Chairman and CEO, Pipeline Software, Orange County, Calif.
  • Timothy Walsh, Director, State of New Jersey Division of Investment, Trenton, N.J.
  • Gregory C. Yadley, Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, Tampa, Fla.

In addition, there are two observers: 

  • Sean Greene, Associate Administrator for Investment and Special Advisor for Innovation, U.S. Small Business Administration
  • A. Heath Abshure, Arkansas Securities Commissioner and Chairman of the Corporation Finance Section of the North American Securities Administrators Association.

In the release announcing the formation of the Committee, the Commission proved for a two year period of operation "unless, before the expiration of that time period, its charter is re-established or renewed in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act." 

The Commission has a web site that chronicles the activities of the Committee.  The Committee has a charter and bylaws in place. 

J Robert Brown Jr.