Generally speaking, the federal securities laws were drafted with the purpose of limiting the kind and amount of pre-offering publicity permitted in registered public offerings. Pursuant to Section 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, it is unlawful to offer to sell or offer to buy any security unless a registration statement has been filed. The term “offer” is defined and interpreted very broadly, with the effect that any pre-filing publicity constitutes gun jumping if it cannot be justified on the grounds that it was made for a permissible purpose, such as regularly released factual business information. As demonstrated by a recent SEC Staff comment letter repeated below, the Staff continues to consider gun jumping rules in connection with its filing reviews.

Evolution of Gun Jumping Laws

The rules related to gun jumping have evolved over time, and in 2005 the SEC substantially modernized many of the offering communication rules in its Securities Offering Reform release. Other recent updates to the offering communication rules include the following examples from the JOBS Act of 2012 and related SEC rules:

  • No Quiet Period in Regulation A+ Offerings: An issuer may “test the waters” with all potential investors before and after the filing of the offering statement to determine whether there is any interest in the contemplated securities offering, subject to certain conditions.
  • Limited Quiet Period for Emerging Growth Companies (EGCs): EGCs may “test the waters” with certain institutional investors before and after filing a registration statement to determine whether such investors might have an interest in the contemplated securities offering.
  • Rule 506(c) Private Placements Permit General Solicitation: Issuers may broadly solicit and generally advertise an offering, provided that all purchasers in the offering are accredited investors, the issuer takes reasonable steps to verify purchasers’ accredited investor status, and certain other conditions in Regulation D are satisfied.

Continue Reading The Rumors of the Death of Gun Jumping Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

In monitoring SEC comment letters, we came across this SEC comment letter recently made public.  While we acknowledge the term “pro forma” is often used by registrants when adjusting their GAAP results to provide additional meaningful information to investors, this comment by the Staff serves as a reminder to registrants that the Staff generally dislikes non-GAAP measures titled as “pro forma” when the information is not presented in compliance with the pro forma rules in Article 11 of Regulation S-X.  In this situation, the registrant agreed to delete the words “pro forma” and instead use the words “as adjusted.”
Continue Reading SEC Staff Says Avoid Titling Non-GAAP Measures with “Pro Forma” Unless S-X Article 11 Compliant

The firm recently released an updated Blueprint for an IPO, a guide to help companies understand the process of going public and the new challenges they will face once their securities are publicly traded. An IPO is at the same time exciting and very demanding on a company’s management team. IPO candidates face for the first time the expansive regulatory scheme administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and must deal with corporate governance processes that are much different than what they had as private companies.

The newly released guide is organized in an easy to use Q&A format detailing many of the ongoing obligations a company will face after it becomes a public company.

Below is a list of the types of questions that are answered in the newest edition of the Blueprint for an IPO.Continue Reading Bass, Berry & Sims Releases Updated Blueprint for an IPO