State lawmakers tinker with crowdfunding: helping or hurting?

LexisNexis reported yesterday that “Texas securities regulators this month are considering tweaks to state crowdfunding rules that would lift escrow requirements for smaller investments, changes that attorneys say demonstrate the state’s continued eagerness to fine-tune crowdfunding”. Other media sources covered the advancement of crowd funding in North Carolina this week.

Many other states are also tweaking small business crowdfunding laws. I have expressed concerns that, as a practical matter, unless a firm only does business in one state then laws that deviate from federal standards do not help and may in fact eventually prove to be a deterrent for small businesses.