‘Investment crowdfunding’ is a new and inclusive form of online venture capital market open to all investors, both retail and accredited. It’s like Kickstarter, except the backer gets a share of stock, which would be an illegal public offering of unregistered securities—absent the special exemption adopted as part of the federal JOBS Act of 2012. Since then, many other jurisdictions—including Canada, Australia, and the EU—have enacted analogous legal regimes, each a bit different than the others.
Professor Schwartz recently published the definitive guide to investment crowdfunding, based on ten years of on-the-ground research, including as a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand. He will address the law and practice of investment crowdfunding in the United States, and compare it with other jurisdictions.
Co-sponsored by the Blockchain and Fintech Program, Newark Faculty Colloquium, and Institute for Professional Education.