On July 10, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved new rules that, beginning September 23, 2013, will under specified circumstances eliminate the bans on “general solicitation and general advertising” (hereafter referred to as “general solicitation”) in connection with securities offerings made to accredited investors or qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) pursuant to either Rule 506 of Regulation D or Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933.

The SEC also approved amendments to the “bad actor” provisions solely for Rule 506 offerings, also beginning September 23, 2013, but left undecided the consideration of whether such provisions should be made uniform and consistent for Regulation A, Regulation D and future “crowd-funding” offerings.