SEC Announces Roundtable Panelists for Forum on Small Business Capital Formation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-189

Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2007 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today published the agenda and identified the roundtable panelists for its annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation, to be held on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, beginning at 9 a.m. ET, at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox will open the forum with introductory remarks. John W. White, Director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, will introduce Chairman Cox.

The agenda for the forum includes two roundtable discussions in the morning. The first roundtable, from 9:15 to 10:45 a.m., will discuss securities offerings by private companies, including recent SEC rulemaking initiatives on Regulation D, Form D, and preventing private companies with stock option plans from unintentionally becoming public companies. The second roundtable, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will discuss securities regulation of smaller public companies, including recent SEC rulemaking initiatives on Rule 144, Form S-3, and merging Regulation S-B into Regulation S-K. The morning roundtables will be open to the public and Webcast at www.sec.gov.

SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins will provide remarks at the forum luncheon.

The afternoon agenda includes sessions for developing recommendations for government and private action to improve the environment for small business capital formation, including a breakout group on private placement broker-dealers and finders.

The panelists for the roundtable on securities offerings by private companies will be:

• Steven E. Bochner, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Palo Alto, Calif.)
   
• Lance R. Lange, Director, Robert W. Baird & Co. (Milwaukee, Wisc.)
   
• Gerald J. Laporte, Chief, Office of Small Business Policy, SEC Division of Corporation Finance (Washington, D.C.), Co-Moderator
   
• Marc H. Morgenstern, Managing Partner, Blue Mesa Partners (San Francisco, Calif.), Co-Moderator
   
• Gregory C. Yadley, Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP (Tampa, Fla.)

The panelists for the roundtable on securities regulation of smaller public companies will be:

• Steven E. Bochner, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Palo Alto, Calif.), Co-Moderator
   
• Phil Clough, Managing General Partner, ABS Capital Partners (Baltimore, Md.)
   
• R. Cromwell Coulson, Chairman and CEO, Pink Sheets, LLC (New York, N.Y.)
   
• Gerard P. O'Connor, Partner, Foley Hoag LLP (Boston, Mass.)
   
• Anna T. Pinedo, Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP (New York, N.Y.)
   
• John W. White, Director, SEC Division of Corporation Finance (Washington, D.C.), Co-Moderator

The morning portion of the forum will be held in the auditorium of the SEC's headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. Doors will open at 8 a.m. Visitors will be subject to security checks. For planning purposes, members of the public wishing to attend must register online at http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/registration-form/.

More information on the forum is available at the forum Web site at http://www.sec.gov/info/smallbus/sbforum.shtml.