When the SEC tried to overhaul the 1933 Securities Act five years ago, critics charged that the proposed reforms went too far and would undermine investor protection. The massive 1998 proposal—now known as the “aircraft carrier” reform initiatives—eventually sank under its own weight, leaving the procedures for securities offerings stuck in a 70-year-old time warp.
But late last year, the Commission launched a second attempt at reforming the securities offering process, and the proposed rule is so sleek it may not only float, but fly.
