Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act

Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act

This bill amends the Securities Act of 1933 to modify the definition of "accredited investor" for purposes of participating in private offerings to include:

• an individual whose net worth or joint net worth with their spouse exceeds $1 million (adjusted for inflation), excluding from the calculation of their net worth their primary residence and a mortgage secured by that residence in certain circumstances;
• an individual whose income over the last two years exceeded $200,000 (adjusted for inflation) or joint spousal income exceeded $300,000 (adjusted for inflation) and who has a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year;
• an individual who holds previously purchased securities, if the issuer believes that the individual met such income requirements at the time of purchase and would continue to do so;
• an individual who is licensed as a broker or investment advisor by certain entities; and
• an individual determined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to have qualifying education or experience.

(Certain unregistered securities may be offered only to accredited investors.)

The SEC is directed to revise the definition of "accredited investor" in Regulation D (which exempts certain offerings from SEC registration requirements) to conform to changes in this bill.