JOBS Act - A Possible Retreat From Regulation?

On March 8, 2012, the House passed the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups" (JOBS) Act with broad bipartisan support. The JOBS Act is actually six discrete bills bundled into a single package, four of which already had been passed by the House. The White House has given its "blessing" to the proposed measures. If approved by the Senate and signed into law, the JOBS Act will have a significant impact on capital raising by, and SEC regulatory oversight of, smaller businesses. The JOBS Act also represents a significant departure from proregulatory measures championed by the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Acts. Despite its name, the JOBS Act does not create any new jobs. Instead, it is broadly aimed at making access to capital easier for smaller early-stage companies by freeing them from what are seen as burdensome SEC regulations.