Reg D Rule 504

Regulation D Rule 504 offers companies:

• An exemption to raise up to $1 million.
• No disclosure criteria.
• Few general solicitation and resale restrictions.
• No limit as to the number or type of investors.

Rule 504 is considered by many as the perfect answer for the company just starting out OR one that needs to raise less than $1 million.

Rule 504 of Regulation D

Rule 504 of Regulation D provides an exemption from the registration requirements of the federal securities laws for some companies when they offer and sell up to $1,000,000 of their securities in any 12-month period.

A company can use this exemption so long as it is not a blank check company and does not have to file reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Also, the exemption generally does not allow companies to solicit or advertise their securities to the public, and purchasers receive “restricted” securities, meaning that they may not sell the securities without registration or an applicable exemption.

Rule 504 does allow companies to solicit or advertise their securities to the public and to sell securities that are not restricted, if one of the following circumstances is met:

• The company registers the offering exclusively in one or more states that require a publicly filed registration statement and delivery of a substantive disclosure document to investors;
• A company registers and sells the offering in a state that requires registration and disclosure delivery and also sells in a state without those requirements, so long as the company delivers the disclosure documents required by the state where the company registered the offering to all purchasers (including those in the state that has no such requirements); or
• The company sells exclusively according to state law exemptions that permit general solicitation and advertising, so long as the company sells only to “accredited investors.”

Even if a company makes a private sale where there are no specific disclosure delivery requirements, a company should take care to provide sufficient information to investors to avoid violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws. This means that any information a company provides to investors must be free from false or misleading statements. Similarly, a company should not exclude any information if the omission makes what is provided to investors false or misleading.

Companies relying on the Rule 504 exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what is known as a “Form D” electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities. Form D is a brief notice that includes the names and addresses of the company’s promoters, executive officers and directors, and some details about the offering, but contains little other information about the company. If you are thinking about investing in a Regulation D offering, you should access the EDGAR database to determine whether the company has filed Form D.