PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-444.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Nov 2, 2011
Democratizing Access to Capital Act of 2011 - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt from its prohibitions against use of interstate commerce and the mails for sale (or delivery after sale) of unregistered securities, including unregistered security-based swaps, any transactions involving the issuance of securities through a crowdfunding intermediary, whether or not the transaction involves a public offering, for which: (1) the aggregate annual amount raised through the issue of the securities during any 12-month period by an incorporated entity formed under state law is $1 million or less, and (2) individual investments in the securities are limited to a maximum aggregate annual amount of $1,000.
(Crowdfunding is a method of capital formation where groups of people pool money, typically composed of very small individual contributions, and often via internet platforms, to invest in a company or otherwise support an effort by others to accomplish a specific goal.)
Sets forth criteria for the crowdfunding exemption.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Amends the Securities Act of 1934 to exclude: (1) persons holding crowdfunded securities under this Act from application of the 500-to-750 shareholder "held of record" criterion for a class of equity security subject to mandatory registration, and (2) crowdfunding intermediaries from regulation under such Act as "brokers" or "dealers."
Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to preempt state law with respect to regulation of crowdfunded securities. Subjects crowdfunding intermediaries, however, to state authority to investigate and bring enforcement actions with respect to fraud, deceit, or unlawful conduct in connection with securities or securities transactions.
Limits authority to impose fees on crowdfunded securities to: (1) the securities commission of the issuer's state of organization, or (2) any state in which purchasers of 50% or greater of the aggregate amount of the issue are residents.
People & committees
Sen. Brown, Scott P. [R-MA] · R–MA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-444.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1791 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1791 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1791 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1791 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.