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Microcap & Penny Stocks : TGL WHAAAAAAAT! Alerts, thoughts, discussion.

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To: CIMA who wrote (8449)8/30/1999 10:13:00 PM
From: Jim Bishop  Read Replies (2) of 150070
 
Squelching Microcap Stock
Fraud

By Todd Woody

The Securities and Exchange Commission on
Friday moved to regulate the sale of
unregistered securities popularized by the
Internet.

The SEC said it would now require that
so-called Rule 504 offerings be registered in
states that mandate "substantive disclosure"
to investors.

Rule 504 offerings allow entrepreneurs to
raise up to $1 million with little government
oversight. Previously, securities regulations
allowed only wealthy or experienced
investors to purchase these "private
placements," which typically were available
only in local markets. The advent of the
Internet, however, permitted private
placements to be offered globally.

Unlike other securities, private placements
required no disclosure to prospective buyers
and could be immediately traded. As a
national market for Rule 504 securities
developed online, the SEC became
concerned that scam artists were selling
fraudulent offerings or manipulating the price
of legitimate "microcap" stocks.

"As more and more first-time investors enter
the markets and the Internet plays a greater
role in people's investment decisions, the
commission continues to be vigilant in the
fight against microcap fraud," said SEC
Chairman Arthur Levitt in a statement
Friday.

The commission, however, backed away
from a proposal that would have restricted
the resale of Rule 504 stock for a year after
the initial purchase.

Los Angeles securities attorney Russell
Frandsen called Friday's action "a potentially
large blow" to entrepreneurs seeking to raise
startup capital. "It means that a company is
going to have to spend $15,000 to $50,000
on disclosure documents and get those
documents approved by a state," he said.
Frandsen has advised online investing sites
that offer Rule 504 securities.
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