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Corporate Transparency Act goes into effect January 1, 2024

Posted on Dec 22nd, 2023

Effective as of January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act, commonly known as the “Rule,” dictates that entities established through state filing procedures, including limited liability companies, corporations, statutory trusts, and similar entities collectively referred to as “Reporting Companies,” must directly submit beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) of the Department of the Treasury. Failure to adhere to the Rule’s reporting requirements could result in civil and criminal penalties.

On November 30, 2023, FinCEN adjusted the Rule’s filing deadline for Reporting Companies created or registered between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, extending the timeframe from 30 to 90 calendar days.

Reporting Companies in existence before January 1, 2024, have until January 1, 2025, to fulfill the reporting obligations, while those established on or after January 1, 2025, must file within 30 days of their formation.

Reports submitted to FinCEN – Beneficial Ownership Information Reports “BOI Reports” -  must identify the Reporting Company and disclose specific personal information about the Beneficial Owners and Applicants.

Two categories of Beneficial Owners are distinguished: those owning or controlling at least 25 percent of ownership interests and those exercising “substantial control” over the Reporting Company. Notably, applicants encompass the individual filing the formation document and the individual primarily responsible for directing or controlling such filing.

The Rule does provide a large number exemptions to the Reporting Company definition. However, these exemptions do not apply to most types of businesses – in general, they are limited to financial institutions, broker dealers and large public companies.  They are generally exempted because these types of businesses are already subject to extensive regulations and requirements with respect to filing of similar types of information.

Entities falling within an exempted category are exempt from filing a BOI Report with FinCEN. Furthermore, the Rule introduces the concept of “FinCEN Identifiers.” Individuals frequently appearing in BOI Reports can request a unique number from FinCEN, providing an alternative to repeatedly transmitting personal information with each BOI Report filing. Entities also have the option to obtain FinCEN Identifiers.


Recent Federal Court Decision Clarifies Fiduciary Duty Interpretation for Delaware Corporations Doing Business In Massachusetts

Posted on Oct 5th, 2016

By: Richard Gauthier

A recent decision by the Massachusetts federal district court held that Massachusetts corporate law relating to fiduciary duty does not apply to Delaware corporations doing business in Massachusetts.  As most privately held tech-based companies started in Massachusetts are typically formed in Delaware and qualified here as a foreign corporation, this decision, while not surprising, provided comfort and clarity on this important issue.

Paul Nahass, a shareholder and former director and officer of FlexLite Corporation, sued a group of FlexLite shareholders, for terminating him as an officer and director of FlexLite.  Nahass alleged the termination violated their fiduciary duty to Nahass as a minority shareholder in a close corporation and FlexLite’s corporate bylaws.  Nahass argued that because FlexLite was a close corporation, under the famous Massachusetts Donohue v. Rodd decision, the other shareholders owed him a fiduciary duty that he claimed was breached.

The Court rejected this argument.  Pursuant to the Massachusetts “internal affairs” doctrine, the law of the state of incorporation applies to disputes over the internal workings of a corporation, including allegations that majority shareholders breached a fiduciary duty to shareholders. Because FlexLite is a Delaware corporation, The Court held that Massachusetts law does not apply.

The Court then went on to clarify that, unlike Massachusetts, under Delaware law shareholders in a close corporation do not have a fiduciary duty to each other.  Instead, Delaware courts have expressly rejected the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s reasoning.  The Court noted that some Delaware courts have held that “majority stockholders have fiduciary duties to minority stockholders as stockholders …” in certain circumstances, which were not alleged in this case.[1]

The Court also upheld Nahass’ removal from the FlexLite board that was effected by a written consent of stockholders.  While he claimed the corporate bylaws entitled him to a stockholder vote, the Court rejected this argument based on the provisions in the DGCL and the corporate bylaws that permitted action by written consent.


[1] The Court noted that under Delaware law, a shareholder may owe a fiduciary duty where it owns a majority interest in or exercises control over the business affairs of the corporation. In appropriate circumstances, multiple stockholders together can constitute a control group, with each of its members being subject to the fiduciary duties of a controller.

 


Regulation Crowdfunding – SEC assists smaller, non-public U.S. companies with raising capital

Posted on Nov 12th, 2015

Ryan S. Carroll

On October 30, 2015, the SEC voted to adopt Regulation Crowdfunding, the final rules allowing private companies to raise capital through crowdfunding and providing additional protection to investors in crowdfunding investments.  This post provides some background on crowdfunding, a summary of Regulation Crowdfunding’s rules and forms and how we can assist in helping you in your next crowdfunding financing.  While we are lawyers, this blog is not intended to be legal advice and should not be relied on as such.  If you would like legal advice on any of the information contained in this post, please contact us.

Background on “Crowdfunding”

Crowdfunding is a new and evolving financing method that can be used to raise relatively small amounts of capital from a large number of investors at a low cost using the Internet as a means to market the offering.  Regulation Crowdfunding are the new rules which will be applicable to crowdfunding offerings relying on Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”).  This Section was added by Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”) which allows private companies to raise capital through new “crowdfunding” exemptions.  We last wrote on the topic of crowdfunding in this post.

Many provisions of the JOBS Act require rulemaking by the SEC.  Regulation Crowdfunding and its forms will be effective 180 days after they are published in the Federal Register (tentatively, May 2016). This will complete the SEC’s major rulemaking requirement as mandated under the JOBS Act.

The final rules can be found here.

Summary of the Rules:

The recommended rules would, among other things:

1)      Permit issuers to offer the sale of and for investors to purchase securities in crowdfunding offerings, subject to limitations.

  • Such limitations on crowdfunding include:
    • the maximum aggregate amount of financing an issuer can raise through crowdfunding in a 12-month period is $1 million;
    • across all crowdfunding offerings, an individual investor, over a 12-month period may only invest, in the aggregate:\
      • the greater of $2,000 or 5% of the lesser of their annual income or net worth (if their annual income or net worth is less than $100,000); or
      • 10% of the lesser of their annual income or net worth, not to exceed $100,000 in value (if both the investor’s annual income and net worth are equal to or more than $100,000); and
    • an issuer will only be able to make an offering through a registered broker-dealer or through a funding portal and can only use one intermediary for an offering made pursuant to the exemption.

2)      Require issuers raising capital through crowdfunding to disclose certain information regarding their business and the securities being offered through Form C and other requirements.

  • The initial disclosure an issuer must file about the offering is a Form C, which must be provided to the SEC, investors and the intermediary facilitating the offering.
  • Information that must be disclosed on a Form C includes:
    • the price of the securities offered to the public or the method for determining the price, the target offering amount, the deadline to reach the target offering amount and whether the issuer will accept investments in excess of the target offering amount;
    • a discussion of the issuer’s financial condition, a description of the business and how the issuer plans on using the proceeds from the offering, information about the officers and directors of the issuer, information about owners of 20% or more of the issuer and certain related-party transactions; and
    • financial statements of the issuer that are accompanied by information from the issuer’s tax returns, reviewed by an independent public accountant, or audited by an independent auditor.

3)      Create a regulatory framework for intermediaries facilitating the crowdfunding transaction.

  • An issuer must use a registered broker dealer or a funding portal.
  • A funding portal is required to register with the SEC on new Form Funding Portal and become a member of a national securities association (currently, FINRA).
  • Regulation Crowdfunding requires the registered funding portals to:
    • provide investors with educational materials that explain the process for investing on the platform, the types of securities being offered and information an issuer must provide to investors, resale restrictions and investment limits;
    • take certain measures to reduce risk of fraud by having reasonable basis for believing issuers on the platform comply with the Regulation Crowdfunding and that such issuers have a way of keeping accurate records of security holders;
    • make information that an issuer is required to disclose available to the public on its platform for a minimum of 21 days before any security may be sold and throughout the entire offering of such security; and
    • provide channels of communication for discussions about the offerings on the platform, provide disclosure to investors about compensation to the intermediary, only accept an investment commitment after such investor has opened an account, has a reasonable basis for believing an investor complies with investment limitations, provide investors notices once they made investment commitments and confirmations at or before completion of the transaction, comply with maintenance and transmission of funds requirements and comply with completion, cancellation and reconfirmation of offerings requirements.
  • Regulations prohibit intermediaries to engage in certain activities, such as:
    • providing access to their platforms to issuers that they have reasonable basis for believing there is a potential for fraud or other investor protection concerns;
    • having a financial interest in an issuer where it is offering or selling securities on its platform, unless the intermediary is receiving such interest in the issuer as compensation for its services, subject to certain conditions;
    • compensating any person for providing the intermediary with personally identifiable information of any investor; and
    • offering investment advice or making recommendations, soliciting purchase, sales or offers to buy securities, compensating promoters and other solicitors, and holding possessing or handling investor funds or securities.

4)      Require issuers raising capital through crowdfunding to be subjected to ongoing reporting requirements, such as annual reports, to be filed with the SEC and provide such annual reports to investors through the intermediary.

  • If an issuer is raising $100,000 or less, the following are required to be reported (among other things):
    • amount of total income, taxable income, total tax as reported on federal tax forms (if any) and financial statements of the issuer certified by the principal executive officer of the issuer.
  • If an issuer is raising more than $100,000 and less than $500,000, the following are required to be reported (among other things):
    • financial statements of the issuer reviewed by an independent public accountant.
  • If an issuer is raising more than $500,000, the following are required to be reported (among other things):
    • financial statements of the issuer audited by an independent public accountant.

This post is only a summary of selected sections of Regulation Crowdfunding.  Crowdfunding is a very new and nuanced form of raising capital and we recommend you contact your attorney before pursuing any such transaction.  If you have any questions concerning the information in this post, please do not hesitate to contact me at ryan.carroll@hermanlawllc.com.  


Delaware extends statute of limitations to 20 years for breach of contract claims

Posted on Sep 6th, 2014

The State of Delaware recently passed legislation that authorizes a statute of limitations of up to 20 years for breach of contract claims.  Delaware is the first state to adopt a statute of limitations of such length for breach of contract claims.  The legislation, which amended Section 8106 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code, was effective on August 1, 2014.  The new amended Section enables parties to a written contract involving at least $100,000 to provide that up to a twenty year limitations period will apply to any breach claims arising from the contract.

Historically, the Delaware statute of limitations for contract type claims was either three years (for general contracts) or four years (for UCC claims).  Because claims for other types of liabilities (such as say ERISA or tax claims) a buyer could be find itself liable for these third party liabilities without a remedy against a seller if the shorter limitations period had already expired.  For this reason, practitioners have tried to draft around this issue by allowing claims from certain types of reps (often referred to as the “Fundamental Representations”) to survive by contract for a longer period of time.  However, the case law on whether this actually would be enforceable has been unclear and the issue often turns on whether a contract was signed “under seal”.   While a physical seal is not necessary in Delaware, it is important to reference those key words (signed under seal, executed under seal, etc.) next to the executory signature.  Clearly a somewhat an antiquated process, and a trap for the unwary waiting to happen.

The Delaware legislature has now responded by allowing the parties to contract for this extended limitations period, without the need for the arcane “seal” language.  Now that this period is up to 20 years, the parties’ bargained-for terms will be given much greater effect under typical asset purchase or merger agreements involving the acquisition of a private company.  Since many commercial contracts also are governed by Delaware law, even where the parties are not based in Delaware, it is important to note this change for that context as well.

Although the legislation does not specifically indicate whether it would apply to contracts entered into prior to August 1, case law discussing amendments to statutes of limitations as “remedial” and not affecting “substantive or vested rights,” particularly where a statute of limitations is not shortened so as to cut off a plaintiff’s right to bring suit, suggests that this legislation should apply to contracts entered into prior to its effective date.