https://youtu.be/VQZbbeYBT4o
On March 21, 2022, the United States Securities Exchange Commission ,(SEC) proposed a rule that would require public companies to issue ESG disclosures of climate change risks.

With only 0.22% of public companies being Black-owned, why should Black-owned businesses care about mandated ESG disclosures?

This article explores:

• What is ESG?
• How does ESG apply to privately-held companies?
• What is the possible impact of the SEC’s mandated ESG disclosures on Black-owned businesses?

What is ESG?

ESG is an acronym for Environmental, Social and Governance. It’s an investment framework that considers factors such as a company’s carbon footprint (environmental), diversity and…
Continue Reading Could SEC’s mandating ESG disclosures harm Black businesses?

https://youtu.be/zA4IOzguK4s

In Part 1 of our series on Blockchain and the Solidarity Economy, we explored ,decentralized finance (“DeFi”).

For Part 2 we’re going to explore tokenization, and whether participating in a tokenized economy would benefit the ,solidarity economy. Why write an article on this subject? Because The World Economic Forum projects that ,10% of the world’s GDP will be tokenized by 2025. So if blockchain-enabled tokenization will increasingly become an important part of the global economy, then it’s worth addressing what impact it may have on the solidarity economy.

In this article we’ll cover:

• What are tokens

…
Continue Reading Can Blockchain Support the Solidarity Economy? Part 2 – Tokenization

Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) was one of the country’s most dynamic Civil Rights Movement leaders in the 1960-1970s. She rose to fame for her tenacious pursuit of voting rights. While a sharecropper in Mississippi, she faced death threats and attempts on her life when trying to vote for the first time.

Hamer served as a member of the ,Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi. She went on to co-found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Running for state senate, her goal was to address poverty in addition to civil rights. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party’s platform rested on free land,…
Continue Reading Black Women’s History: Fannie Lou Hamer

https://youtu.be/_Wm48CMbol8*co-authored by Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., Managing Attorney

What is the Solidarity Economy?

The current solidarity economy movement rose from the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, which witnessed one of the largest wealth transfers to the top 1% of wealth holders in U.S. history. Beneficiaries of this wealth transfer to the top 1% (also known as a“bailout”) is still being paid for by current and future generations of American taxpayers. As an alternative to the now embedded profit-first, financialized capital system, the solidarity economy is a people- and environment-first economic system rooted in economic democracy, social solidarity, and sustainability.

Regardless…
Continue Reading Securities Law and the Solidarity Economy

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/4dc8bf_dcbc83b8d88e40879e05833c82da9789/720p/mp4/file.mp4 *co-authored by Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., Managing Attorney
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been busy applying federal securities laws to the digital asset space which includes cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A report by American Progress valued the digital space at around $1.95 trillion in mid-August which increased to $2.14 trillion in September, just one month later.
In addition to this growth, there have been several accounts of theft, fraud, and other violations by issuers and consumers of these digital assets. The digital asset space is decentralized and not largely regulated, which causes…
Continue Reading SEC Doubles Down on Digital Assets

*co-authored by Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., Managing Attorney
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been busy applying federal securities laws to the digital asset space which includes cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A report by American Progress valued the digital space at around $1.95 trillion in mid-August which increased to $2.14 trillion in September, just one month later.
In addition to this growth, there have been several accounts of theft, fraud, and other violations by issuers and consumers of these digital assets. The digital asset space is decentralized and not largely regulated, which causes many…
Continue Reading SEC Authorities Double Down on Digital Assets

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c80f84_734330abaf6942adb04db9a3e03f3e63/1080p/mp4/file.mp4Generally, investment companies or funds are defined as companies that are primarily in the business of investing and trading securities. The US Securities Act of 1933, and applicable case law, generally defines securities as any note, are defined as any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest, investment contract, or participation in any profit-sharing agreement. In other words, whenever investors or members of a company are not actively engaged in running the company but instead have only passively invested in the company through the purchase of a share, stock, or…
Continue Reading Investment Clubs and the SEC

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c80f84_734330abaf6942adb04db9a3e03f3e63/1080p/mp4/file.mp4Generally, investment companies or funds are defined as companies that are primarily in the business of investing and trading securities. The US Securities Act of 1933, and applicable case law, generally defines securities as any note, are defined as any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest, investment contract, or participation in any profit-sharing agreement. In other words, whenever investors or members of a company are not actively engaged in running the company but instead have only passively invested in the company through the purchase of a share, stock, or…
Continue Reading Investment Companies and the SEC

Debt-based crowdfunding, often referred to as peer-to-peer lending (P2P), is a great way to raise money for small businesses that may find it more difficult to obtain loans from traditional lending institutions. Also, small business loans often take much longer to get funded than the average debt-based crowdfunding loan, which makes debt-based crowdfunding a suitable funding option for businesses that need funding relatively quickly. According to P2PMarketData, this crowdfunding model has proven to raise the largest amount of capital on various platforms.Businesses utilizing debt-based crowdfunding raise capital by taking micro-loans from hundreds of lenders who are also called investors.

These…
Continue Reading The Risks and Rewards of Debt-Based Crowdfunding

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c80f84_0ff756e92a1d4696bdb3caf99b02da73/720p/mp4/file.mp4For companies in the cannabis industry seeking to raise capital, legal compliance is particularly important. Not only is this a highly regulated industry but offers and sales of securities of companies within the industry are generally subject to enhanced scrutiny by State and federal securities regulators.

It appears that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is increasing its scrutiny of the financial reporting and disclosure requirements of cannabis businesses in connection with the offer and sale of securities.

In September of 2018, the SEC issued an “Investor Alert” pointing to increased fraud in early-stage capital raise cannabis offering space. The…
Continue Reading Raising Capital for Cannabis and Cannabis-related Businesses

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/4dc8bf_86baa8e10c504468b18511f7d0f659b4/1080p/mp4/file.mp4In her book, Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, Jessica Gordon Nemhard states that the principles of African American cooperatives are solidarity, equity, democracy, and sustainability. These principles were accomplished by working together to fight racism through the pooling of resources. Jessica Gordon Nemhard highlights this history in Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. Professor Gordon Nemhard writes about how African Americans worked together to improve each others’ lives through co-op economics.

In the late 18th century, the first cooperative efforts were established in the form of…
Continue Reading The History of African American Cooperatives and the Importance of Representative Legal Support