The Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation was established in January 2019 pursuant to the bipartisan Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Small Business Advocate Act of 2016 to advance the interests of small businesses and their investors at the SEC and in the capital markets. The Office proactively works to identify and address unique challenges faced by minority-owned, women-owned, rural, and natural disaster area small businesses and their investors. At the end of 2021, the office released two publications regarding small businesses, which are outlined below.
First, in November 2021 the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation released its Strategic Plan for 2021-2025. This document is to be used to guide the Office's decisions and align actions with mission execution. The plan outlines four key goals, with strategies and initiatives to lay out the groundwork for each:
- Engage with small businesses and their investors to solicit views on relevant capital raising issues.
- Educate small businesses and their investors about capital raising rules to reduce barriers to entry and increase compliance.
- Collaborate on pragmatic policy solutions to address capital raising challenges faced by small businesses and their investors.
- Empower a mission-driven team to leverage varied perspectives to solve the complex problems of an evolving and increasingly diverse capital market.
Second, in December 2021 the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation released its 2021 annual report to Congress and the SEC. This report details how entrepreneurs and investors are building companies together, from startups to small public companies. The report is a comprehensive resource on the dynamics of capital raising in communities across the country, including:
- Highlights of the Office’s advocacy work from the 2021 fiscal year
- Data on small business capital formation
- Policy recommendations from the Office
- Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee’s 2021 fiscal year summary of activities
For more information on the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation visit their page on the SEC website.
