Mass. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin is slamming President Obama for signing the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups" (JOBS) bill into law today, calling the measure "basically a Christmas list of every wish the securities industry had."
"This will be exploited by all of the wrong people," Galvin told the Herald, saying he expects the new law to eventually open the door to fresh Wall Street scams.
"In the future if you back up and say, 'How could this (scandal) have happened?' -- well, today's the day," Galvin said.
Co-sponsored by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), the JOBS Act ostensibly aims to legalize "crowdfunding."
That's a system where promising start-up firms publicize their ideas over the Web and attract investors with little government oversight.
"Crowdfunding is a game changer for startups and entrepreneurs in Massachusetts and across the country," Brown said today in praising Obama for signing the measure. "These small businesses now have a powerful new tool to grow and create jobs."
But Galvin claims the bill that ultimately passed weakens some state and federal laws governing stock offerings as large as $1 billion.
"If you tell me a company trying to raise $100,000 or even $1 million is a start-up, fine -- but a company trying to raise $1 billion isn't," he said.
