On May 11, 2012, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued instructions for submitting draft registration statements confidentially under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the "JOBS Act"). As noted in our previous e-Alert available here, President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law on April 5, 2012. The JOBS Act considerably alters the regulations surrounding public and private security offerings, creating a new category of issuers known as "emerging growth companies" and exempting these companies from certain federal securities regulations relating to the IPO process and periodic reporting obligations.

Specifically, emerging growth companies are permitted to file their IPO registration statements with the SEC on a confidential, nonpublic basis. As described in instructions released by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance on May 11, 2012 (available here), the SEC has implemented a secure e mail system to allow it to confidentially receive and review emerging growth company registration statements, as well as send comment letters and review company correspondence, until such documents are able to be submitted and reviewed through EDGAR. Some items of note...

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