If a company makes a statement within 30 days of filing its registration statement which the SEC considers to be an attempt to pre-sell the public offering, they could consider it a “gun-jumping” violation of the Securities Act. Possible consequences include:
Liability for violating securities laws
Delayed public offering date
Requirement to disclose potential securities laws violations in the prospectus
Over the years, investors (particularly small investors) have debated the objectives behind the quiet period and how the SEC chooses to enforce the rules. Like any regulated market, claims may abound that certain parties have been given access to information in violation of the quiet period, such as prior to Facebook's IPO in 2012. This IPO led to over a dozen lawsuits from shareholders that claimed the social network giant, along with its underwriters, deliberately did not disclose information ahead of the listing regarding weaker growth forecasts.