How we’re equipping Reg A+, Reg Cf, and Reg D issuers
By Vanessa Malone
Last week we announced a change in our corporate name from Horizon Globex to Horizon Fintex. This name change reflects our commitment to bring liquidity to the growing exempt securities market with our proprietary fintech. To go along with our new name and newly refined focus, we wanted to re-introduce ourselves.
Horizon is a fintech company, hi there!
We’ve built what we believe to be the only complete and integrated technology suite that addresses the entire lifecycle of an exempt securities offering from issuance through secondary trading.
The exempt securities market
By ‘exempt securities’ market, we’re primarily talking about the burgeoning equity crowdfunding marketplace where companies are turning to the internet to raise capital from fans, customers, and interested investors.
The most talked about equity crowdfunding campaigns are conducted through Regulation A+ and Regulation CF. Rule 506(c) of Regulation D also enables issuers to market their opportunity to a large audience of investors but only high-net worth or accredited investors may participate in these offerings. All of these offerings are exempt from traditional registration requirements, hence the name exempt securities. Rule 506(c) of Regulation D went into effect September 23, 2013; Reg A+ on June 19, 2015; and Reg CF on May 16, 2016.
Despite being only a few years old, the exempt securities market has already surpassed the registered securities market when it comes to capital raising. In fact, 69.2% of all new capital raised in 2019 came from an exempt securities offering (Reg D, Reg A+, Reg CF).¹
We believe this trend will continue, and that its growth and adoption can be expedited with Horizon’s fintech.
Horizon’s securities offering technology
Raising capital is a challenging feat in itself, with lots of moving parts, entities and team members working to complete a successful round of fundraising. Issuers choosing to go this route have to research, coordinate, and pay multiple service providers who, in turn, refer to more third parties, or their so-called API’s, for each step of the securities offering.
All these extra steps and costs greatly contradict the point of conducting a Reg CF, Reg A, or Reg D offering; which are meant to shorten and offer a less expensive, less extensive capital raise than a traditional IPO. It also can scare away investors who demand a streamlined investment experience.
Below, we walk you through what an exempt securities offering looks like from issuance through to secondary trading using Horizon’s suite of securities offering solutions:
1. Issuing your securities
Our electronic securities issuance platform, ETSware, is an end-to-end electronic securities platform streamlining capital raising from primary issuance through compliant secondary trading with our tools. We offer a hands-on approach to securities issuance, collaborating directly with an issuers’ team to understand and implement unique regulatory and operational requirements directly into your securities offering. With our integrated solutions, you can apply KYC, AML, and Transfer Agent technology solutions to meet regulatory compliance demands while maintaining a user-friendly, on-brand investment experience for your investors.
2. KYC investor onboarding and investor suitability
Next, we deploy KYCware, offering a 2-minute onboarding service for investors through our high-tech, high-touch smartphone app branded to your company. The app goes further than identity verification; with app questions and forms auto-adjusting according to user entries in order to meet compliance and investor suitability requirements globally across jurisdictions. KYCware is also the first investor onboarding app with an integrated US Broker-Dealer Subscription Booklet, W-8Ben submission and SEC Reg D 506(c) Investor Accreditation which works to dramatically reduce the cost and shorten the whole investment process.
3. Screening investors against global AML sanctions lists
After your investors submit their information, your banker or other authorized personnel securely downloads the investors information which is automatically, and continually screened against our proprietary database of global sanctions, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), and watchlists through AMLcop. Instead of just a one-time check, our lists are updated daily and investors are scanned on a continual basis to enhance issuers’ AML efforts even after the primary issuance. This also comes in handy later in the life-cycle for issuers offering dividends or seeking to list on a regulated trading venue.
4. Enabling your designated transfer agent to efficiently custody & manage securities
We believe that engaging an SEC-registered transfer agent is in the issuer and investor’s best interest, which is why we’ve developed technology specifically for transfer agents to compliantly manage exempt securities. It is not only required for most Reg A+ offerings, it is also necessary for all issuers who wish to list their securities on a regulated trading venue for compliant secondary trading. Through CustodyWare, transfer agents compliantly secure your investors’ securities from theft and loss, and can pay issuer dividends in an AML-compliant manner with the click of a button. CustodyWare also enables issuers to efficiently transfer securities to a regulated trading venue.
5. Transfer securities to a regulated ATS or exchange for compliant secondary trading
Horizon’s flagship product, Open Order Book, also offers regulated entities advanced electronic exchange software to power order-driven securities exchanges.
In conclusion
The exempt securities market is young but rapidly showing progress. We are thrilled to equip issuers and service providers with the tools needed to better leverage these capital raising methods. We are also thrilled to offer investors a next generation investment experience.
Please visit our one-stop shop for securities offering technology at https://www.horizonfintex.com/ . To schedule a demo our integrated solutions, please reach us at horizon@horizonfintex.com.
Sources:
¹ SEC Capital Formation Report