Reps. Meeks and Budd Bipartisan Bill to Encourage IPOs Passes House

Reps. Meeks and Budd Bipartisan Bill to Encourage IPOs Unanimously Passes House

Washington, D.C.—Senior Member of the Financial Services Committee, Congressman Meeks, and Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) unanimously passed their bipartisan bill, H.R. 3903, the Encouraging Public Offerings Act of 2017 through the House of Representatives with a vote of 419-0 today. H.R. 3903 would foster initial public offerings (IPO) for private companies, making it a more feasible option for businesses. Regarding this bipartisan legislative victory, Congressman Meeks said the following:

"Taking a company public is a crucial option for entrepreneurs, allowing them to access funding, build on their ideas, and create jobs. Yet, inherent in the current framework are barriers and costs, which should be minimized to allow companies to grow sustainably. In addition to protecting investors by maintaining reasonable safeguards, Congress should help create a streamlined process that keeps IPOs viable for budding businesses. I am glad that my colleagues in the House agree with Congressman Budd and me and have unanimously supported our bill."

"Today's strong showing indicates that the entire House of Representatives acknowledge the importance of keeping IPOs viable for budding businesses. I look forward to the Senate moving our bipartisan bill in the near future."

H.R. 3903, the Encouraging Public Offerings Act, has three provisions:

-First, it would expand the JOBS Act's confidential registration provisions beyond emerging growth companies to all issuers.

-Second, it would allow confidential registration for follow-on offerings for all issuers. Current law provides this capacity only to emerging growth companies. Both of these provisions would codify into law actions undertaken by the Securities Exchange Commission earlier this year.

-Finally, the Budd-Meeks legislation would expand the testing the waters provision in the JOBS Act to all issuers, allowing companies in the initial public offerings process to gauge accredited and institutional investor interest in a securities offering.

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