Crowdfunding : trick or treat?

On Halloween eve, three years after authorization by the JOBS Act, the SEC finally adopted rules permitting small ventures and business startups to raise up to $1 million over a 12-month period by selling shares to the investing public through crowdfunding offerings conducted on Internet fundraising portals. Qualifying businesses and intermediary portals will be subject to procedural and reporting requirements. Investors will be restricted in the amount of shares they may purchase depending on whether…