The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is to host an investor roundtable on crowdfunding, and exempt market investing generally, next month.
The OSC announced today that it will hold a roundtable on June 11, “to hear from investors and potential investors on investing in start-ups”, as part of its deliberations into possible new capital raising exemptions, such as allowing crowdfunding, or introducing a new offering memorandum (OM) exemption in Ontario.
Currently, the commission is considering ways to help start-ups and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) raise money in the exempt market. It has proposed possible models for a crowdfunding exemption and an OM exemption, among others, and recently completed a consultation period on those proposals.
As part of these deliberations, it’s seeking to understand how much investor interest there is in these sorts of funding options, and, what sorts of protective measures (including disclosure obligations) it should adopt in order to ensure investor protection. Investor advocates have generally opposed crowdfunding as too risky and susceptible to fraud.
“OSC staff are interested in finding out whether people are interested in making these types of investments and, if so, what kind of information they would want to have and how much they would be willing to invest,” it said today.
It suggests that people who are interested in investing in start-ups, or in learning more about crowdfunding, should attend its event on June 11; which will consist of a brief presentation by OSC staff followed by an open discussion. The meeting will take place at the commission’s offices in Toronto from 9 to 11 am. Prospective attendees are invited to signal their interest by June 6.
Those wishing to participate in the OSC investor roundtable are asked to rsvp by email at exemptmarketconsultations@osc.gov.on.ca by June 6