After Goldman Sachs & Co. halted a planned offering of more than $1.5 billion in Facebook shares, the Securities and Exchange Commission has sharpened its focus on the rules surrounding smaller companies and private investments, says Bloomberg. "Companies seeking access to capital should not be overburdened by unnecessary or superfluous regulations," SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said in a statement. "At the same time, while we have an important responsibility to facilitate growing companies' access to America's investment capital, we must balance that responsibility with our obligation to protect investors and our markets." The agency is particularly interested in the rules that require companies with more than 499 investors to disclose financial information, and others that put restrictions on how private companies can recruit investors.
