Effective March 29, 2023, certain M&A brokers are no longer required to register as broker-dealers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The new exception to the Securities Exchange Act will allow an M&A broker to engage in a securities transaction connected to the sale and purchase of an eligible privately held company.
The change removes grey area from the law, reduces costs and paperwork, and provides greater assurances to the seller that their advisors are operating under the letter of the law.
In the Q1 2023 survey, nearly two-thirds of Market Pulse respondents (65%) said the exemption won’t change a thing about how they do business. Another 17% said they’ll broker business transactions that would qualify as a “stock sale” now. Another 6% said they’ll broker partial sales now. Only 2% of respondents indicated they were already SEC licensed.