Today, Carta CEO Henry Ward testifies before the House Financial Services Committee about modernizing laws to support private markets, expand access for individual investors, and increase opportunities for equity ownership.
The testimony will be streaming live on the House Financial Services Committee website on Wednesday, April 19th at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Ward’s complete written testimony will be available here on Thursday, April 20. Carta will be live-tweeting the event @cartainc.
“The venture ecosystem is America’s innovation engine, and it is important that we continue to invest in and support the entrepreneurs, investors, and employees who drive it forward,” Ward said. “Carta is engaging to help build a policy framework that supports this ecosystem, which creates jobs, provides important products and services, and drives the next chapter of innovation and economic growth.”
In his testimony, Ward will specifically address modernizing the accredited investor definition, increasing investor access to private market investments, bolstering the ability for fund managers and companies to raise capital at all phases of their growth, and other ways to support growth and innovation in private markets.
“The venture ecosystem drives innovation, and it should be accessible to more,” said Holli Heiles Pandol, policy counsel at Carta. “By lowering barriers, policy can help build a broader, more inclusive system to support entrepreneurs and emerging managers across the country. ”
The hearing—A Roadmap for Growth: Reforms to Encourage Capital Formation and Investment Opportunities for All Americans—will feature five witnesses. They include Carta CEO Henry Ward; Joel H. Trotter, Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP; Rodney Sampson, Executive Chairman & CEO at Opportunity Hub; Brandon Brooks, Founding Partner at Overlooked Ventures; and Melanie Senter Lubin, Maryland Securities Commissioner, on behalf of the North American Securities Administrators Association.
Carta’s policy arm engages policymakers, founders, employees, and investors to drive policy that supports the private market ecosystem. The Carta Policy desk outlines key priorities, and features:
- Policy briefs covering the accredited investor definition, Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act, qualifying venture capital fund parameters, and more.
- Carta’s recent comment letters to the Treasury and the IRS on electronic signatures for 83(b) elections, harmonizing securities offering exemptions, prioritizing tax simplification by streamlining the filing process, and more
- An exclusive policy newsletter sent weekly to subscribers interested in understanding the impacts of current and upcoming policy proposals on the venture ecosystem
