I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4498 
To clarify the definition of general solicitation under Federal securities law. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2016 
Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. HURT of Virginia, and Mr. 
TAKAI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To clarify the definition of general solicitation under Federal 
securities law. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Angels Lead 
Our Startups Act’’ or the ‘‘HALOS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ANGEL INVESTOR GROUP. 
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘angel investor group’’ 
means any group that— 
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(1) is composed of accredited investors inter-
ested in investing personal capital in early-stage 
companies; 
(2) holds regular meetings and has defined 
processes and procedures for making investment de-
cisions, either individually or among the membership 
of the group as a whole; and 
(3) is neither associated nor affiliated with bro-
kers, dealers, or investment advisers. 
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF GENERAL SOLICITATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Securities and Ex-
change Commission shall revise Regulation D of its rules 
(17 C.F.R. 230.500 et seq.) to require that in carrying 
out the prohibition against general solicitation or general 
advertising contained in section 230.502(c) of title 17, 
Code of Federal Regulations, the prohibition shall not 
apply to a presentation or other communication made by 
or on behalf of an issuer which is made at an event— 
(1) sponsored by— 
(A) the United States or any territory 
thereof, by the District of Columbia, by any 
State, by a political subdivision of any State or 
territory, or by any agency or public instrumen-
tality of any of the foregoing; 
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(B) a college, university, or other institu-
tion of higher education; 
(C) a nonprofit organization; 
(D) an angel investor group; 
(E) a venture forum, venture capital asso-
ciation, or trade association; or 
(F) any other group, person or entity as 
the Securities and Exchange Commission may 
determine by rule; 
(2) where any advertising for the event does not 
reference any specific offering of securities by the 
issuer; 
(3) the sponsor of which— 
(A) 
does 
not 
make 
investment 
rec-
ommendations or provide investment advice to 
event attendees; 
(B) does not engage in an active role in 
any investment negotiations between the issuer 
and investors attending the event; 
(C) does not charge event attendees any 
fees other than administrative fees; and 
(D) does not receive any compensation 
with respect to such event that would require 
registration of the sponsor as a broker or a 
dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 
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1934, or as an investment advisor under the In-
vestment Advisers Act of 1940; and 
(4) where no specific information regarding an 
offering of securities by the issuer is communicated 
or distributed by or on behalf of the issuer, other 
than— 
(A) that the issuer is in the process of of-
fering securities or planning to offer securities; 
(B) the type and amount of securities 
being offered; 
(C) the amount of securities being offered 
that have already been subscribed for; and 
(D) the intended use of proceeds of the of-
fering. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (a) may 
only be construed as requiring the Securities and Ex-
change Commission to amend the requirements of Regula-
tion D with respect to presentations and communications, 
and not with respect to purchases or sales. 
Æ 
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