The SEC announced the committee will meet at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., at 10 a.m. ET, with the session also being webcast on the SEC website. The meeting will focus on two key areas affecting small business capital formation: the regulatory framework governing finders in private markets and the expanding private secondary market for private securities.
The morning session will continue the committee's ongoing examination of potential regulatory improvements for finders who assist companies with raising capital in private markets from accredited investors. The committee will hear from Steven Jafarzadeh, chief compliance officer and partner at Stonehaven, to better understand how the current regulatory framework affects these intermediaries.
During the afternoon session, SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation staff will present an overview of the office's 2025 Staff Report, which includes comprehensive data on capital raising activity from startup to small cap companies. The session will then shift to exploring the private secondary market and its role in providing liquidity and meeting investor demand for private securities.
The committee will examine how continuation funds, special purpose vehicles, and private tender offers have become increasingly prevalent as methods to rebalance portfolios and provide liquidity to investors and employees. These mechanisms represent the growing sophistication of private markets as they mature and seek to address traditional liquidity constraints.
To provide market perspective on private secondary transactions, the committee will hear from Emily Zheng, senior research analyst at Pitchbook; Nigel Dawn, managing director at Evercore; and William Duval, special counsel at Cooley LLP. These speakers will address deal flow drivers, trends, opportunities, and challenges in the private secondary market.
The Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee provides advice and recommendations to the SEC on rules, regulations, and policy matters relating to small businesses. The committee's continued focus on finders regulation reflects ongoing industry concerns about the regulatory clarity for these market participants.
The meeting comes as private markets continue to expand and mature, with secondary transactions becoming a critical component of the private equity and venture capital ecosystem. The committee's examination of these trends could inform future SEC policy decisions affecting small business capital formation.