Summary of SEC Release No. 33-8591: the Securities and Exchange Commission's Securities Offering Reform Final Rules

The way issuers raise capital has changed over the course of the past several years, and, in response, the SEC has adopted final rules that modernize and liberalize the securities laws so that issuers raising capital may do so in an efficient manner through registered offerings, while maintaining a high level of investor protection through an issuer's dissemination of complete and timely information regarding its business and its securities. As such, the final rules are predicated upon the relatively new information capabilities - in terms of the speed of dissemination to a  widespread audience - that are available today, that were not available when the currently effective rules were enacted.