Title: Relief for Small Businesses Through Micro-Offerings Act of 2020
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Relief for Small Businesses Through Micro-Offerings Act of 2020
This bill temporarily exempts certain securities offerings from the registration requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Specifically, securities offerings are exempt from these registration requirements if (1) the aggregate amount of securities sold to all investors by the issuer is not more than $250,000, (2) the amount sold to any investor by the issuer does not exceed $5,000, and (3) the transaction is conducted through a registered broker or funding portal. This exemption ends three years after the date of enactment.
The SEC may by rule prohibit a person from engaging in such an offering if the person is subject to certain bad-actor or statutory disqualifications.
The Government Accountability Office must report on the impact of this exemption.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6252 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6252

To amend the Securities Act of 1933 to provide an exemption for certain 
          micro-offering transactions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2020

 Mr. McHenry (for himself, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Barr, Mr. Stivers, and Mr. 
  Huizenga) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Act of 1933 to provide an exemption for certain 
          micro-offering transactions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Relief for Small Businesses Through 
Micro-Offerings Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. EXEMPT TRANSACTIONS FOR CERTAIN MICRO-OFFERINGS.

    (a) In General.--Section 4(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 
U.S.C. 77d(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) transactions involving the offer or sale of 
        securities by an issuer (including all entities controlled by 
        or under common control with the issuer), provided that--
                    ``(A) the aggregate amount sold to all investors by 
                the issuer, including any amount sold in reliance on 
                the exemption provided under this paragraph during the 
                12-month period preceding the date of such transaction, 
                is not more than $250,000;
                    ``(B) the aggregate amount sold to any investor by 
                an issuer, including any amount sold in reliance on the 
                exemption provided under this paragraph during the 12-
                month period preceding the date of such transaction, 
                does not exceed $5,000; and
                    ``(C) the transaction is conducted through a broker 
                or funding portal registered with the Commission.''.
    (b) Authority To Prohibit Bad Actors.--In issuing rules to carry 
out section 4(a)(8) of the Securities Act of 1933, as added by 
subsection (a), the Securities and Exchange Commission may prohibit a 
person from engaging in a transaction described under such section 
4(a)(8) if such person is subject to an event that would disqualify an 
issuer or other covered person under Rule 506(d)(1) of Regulation D (17 
CFR 230.506(d)(1)) or is subject to a statutory disqualification 
described under section 3(a)(39) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934.
    (c) Termination.--Effective on the date that is 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, paragraph (8) of section 4(a) of the 
Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77d(a)), as added by subsection (a), 
is repealed.
    (d) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
to Congress a study on the impact of paragraph (8) of section 4(a) of 
the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77d(a)), as added by subsection 
(a).
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