For years, business leaders and commentators have observed that the regulatory requirements to be met to finance companies in the United States have become overly burdensome and discourage entrepreneurship. These observations tended to fall on deaf Congressional ears that were more attuned to hearing lurid details of corporate misdeeds, stock option backdating and insider trading.

What a difference four years and severe disruption in the financial markets seems to be making. Congress is now listening and there are at least two significant legislative proposals that would ease the regulatory burden on smaller companies.

One measure would change Regulation A under the Securities Act to permit companies to conduct offerings to raise up to $50 million through a mini-registration process. Regulation A has not been used much in recent years because of the low threshold ($5 million) but many smaller companies would find Reg A offerings a helpful capital-raising alternative.