Commissioner Proposes Clarifications To Proposed Broker-Dealer Safe Harbor Rule

Yesterday, Commissioner Preston DuFauchard proposed further clarifications to the text of a proposed rule intended to respond to the California Court of Appeal's decision in People v. Cole, 156 Cal.App.4th 452 (2007).   That decision engendered confusion regarding whether officers and directors of an issuer can rely on the agent exclusion set forth in Corporations Code § 25003(d).  For background on this case, see my article, A Shot Not Heard—The Court of Appeal Holds that an Issuer’s Directors and Officers Must Be Licensed as Securities Broker-Dealers, 3 Cal. Bus. L. News (2008).

You can read the text of the proposed changes here.  Additions to this section are shown by double underlining and deletions are shown by double strike-out.

The comment period on these modifications to the proposed text ends on October 21, 2010.  Comments may be mailed to the California Corporations Commissioner, Attn: Karen Fong, Staff Services Analyst, Office of Legislation and Policy, 1515 K Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, California 95814.  Written comments may also be sent to Karen Fong via electronic mail at regulations@corp.ca.gov or via fax at (916) 322-5875.