Legislative efforts to ease the IPO path for emerging growth companies took another step forward this morning with the introduction of H.R. 3606, the “Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act of 2011.”  With Reps. Fincher (R-TN) and Carney (D-DE) in the lead, this bipartisan legislation has 27 original cosponsors and is identical to the Senate bill, S. 1933, which was introduced last week.  Both bills seek to provide a regulatory on-ramp for emerging growth companies for a definitive period of time after an IPO as well as improve the communications process between IPO companies and potential investors, all without compromising investor protection.  Both bills build upon the recommendations of the IPO Task Force, a private group of professionals operating in the IPO ecosystem and led by past NVCA chairman Kate Mitchell..

Next week there will be two hearings on these bills.  On December 14, the Senate Banking Committee will have a hearing on capital formation and investor protection, which will include discussion of S. 1933, and on December 15th the House Financial Services Committee will hold its own hearing.  The NVCA expects to be well represented at both these hearings, although the witness lists have yet to be formalized.  We will keep you informed in the coming weeks as this process proceeds.  We remain extremely encouraged by the strong bipartisan support for this legislation and the speed at which these bills are moving.