In opening remarks at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s 44th Annual Small Business Forum, the Director of the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation outlined how the event will gather input from small businesses, investors and other stakeholders to develop policy recommendations aimed at improving small business capital formation. Participants will vote through an online portal to prioritize recommendations grouped across three lifecycle sections, Early-stage, Growth-Stage including smaller funds, and Small Cap and the Public Markets. The speech pointed to continuing capital access challenges, including that small businesses created 80% of net new jobs since 2011 and that 77% of small businesses are concerned about accessing the capital they need, alongside public market indicators such as IPOs rising to 101 in the first half of 2024 from 83 in the first half of 2023 while remaining below the 2021 peak. The SEC’s report to Congress on the Forum will include the top five recommendations from each lifecycle section.
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission 2025-04-10
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission opens its 44th Small Business Forum with participant voting to set capital formation recommendations for Congress
At the SEC’s 44th Annual Small Business Forum, the Director of the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation emphasized the event's role in gathering stakeholder input to improve small business capital formation. Participants will prioritize recommendations across three lifecycle stages, with a report to Congress including the top five from each. The speech noted ongoing capital access challenges, despite small businesses creating 80% of net new jobs since 2011 and IPOs rising in 2024.