The SEC is expected to vote today to approve final rules to implement Title III of the JOBS Act, which will permit so-called equity crowdfunding for the first time. It has been some three years since the SEC was tasked with issuing these rules, and back in March we wondered whether the crowdfunding rules were effectively dead.  But later today the SEC will likely issue a multi-hundred page release sometime today which will set forth the text of the final rules, describe the comment letters the SEC has received since releasing proposed rules back in October 2013, and the way the SEC considered and responded to comments on those proposed rules.

In the next few days, we will be summarizing the final rules here on Dodd-Frank.com. To get you ready for more mainstream media coverage about the final crowdfunding rules in the next few days, here are some links to provide context:

You can find our post about the PROPOSED rules and their impact here.

CNBC appears to be focusing some resources on covering the new crowdfunding rules, releasing an article yesterday that mostly stresses the benefits and risks to investors of the ability to invest in early stage companies but is silent with respect to the risks to companies that utilize crowdfunding.

CNBC has also teamed with a company called Crowdnetic to provide the CNBC Crowdfinance 50, an index of the 50 private companies raising the most money through online crowdfunding platforms. Currently, this is only available to accredited investors (until after the final SEC rules are released). It is perhaps no surprise that most of the activity seems to be focused on tech companies in California.

Techcrunch has an article providing a more balanced perspective on crowdfunding, noting that even some of the players in the crowdfunding platform space aren’t necessarily enthusiastic about the prospect of the new rules.