Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee Aug. 4 Meeting to Focus on How Capital Markets Are Serving Underrepresented Founders

The Securities and Exchange Commission today released the agenda for the Tuesday, Aug. 4 meeting of its Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, which will be hosted via video conference. 

The current COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the importance of access to capital for small businesses across the country, and the Committee recently met to develop solutions that can support their short- and long-term capital needs. The Commission responded to the Committee’s feedback with temporary emergency relief to expedite the offering process for smaller, established companies.

In light of the challenges that minority communities face accessing capital, as well as recent events highlighting racial injustice, the Committee will focus the Aug. 4 agenda on how capital markets are serving underrepresented founders, including minorities and women. During the meeting the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation will share statistics and trends in capital raising across demographic groups, and then the Committee will listen to and learn from founders and investors as they share their perspectives on capital formation. Feedback from the speakers will help shape the remainder of the meeting, which will include a discussion by Committee members of best practices and potential regulatory solutions to enable a more inclusive capital formation ecosystem.

The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. ET and will be webcast on SEC.gov. The webcast will be archived on the Committee’s webpage for later viewing. 

The Committee was established to provide the Commission with advice and recommendations on Commission rules, regulations, and policy matters relating to small businesses, from privately-held emerging companies to smaller public companies. The Committee has recently informed the Commission on a number of pertinent rulemaking and policy priorities, providing valued marketplace feedback into the regulatory process.  Additional information on the Committee, including its members, is available on the Committee’s webpage.