The Small Business Administration (SBA) has formally proposed some of the biggest regulatory changes to the SBIC program in decades (link to formal SBA proposal). Once final, these new regulations will carry the force of law and will be difficult to change.

The good news is that as a member of the SBIA you have a strong voice advocating for your views – both hopes and concerns – as the SBA seeks input on which regulatory proposals are kept as initially proposed and which proposals need to be improved or shelved. SBIA now needs your input on the proposals. 

Below is a link to SBIA’s “Pulse Check” Online Survey on the regulatory proposals as well as a Topline Summary prepared by SBIA. At the bottom of this email is a Resources section that includes helpful summaries prepared by some of SBIA’s sponsoring law firms (Troutman Pepper, Bass, Berry & Sims).

As the name of the survey suggests, we are seeking to get the “pulse” of the industry on each of the regulatory proposals. There are 50 questions so please review them before starting the online survey. Every member SBIC Fund Platform will be able to submit one (1) survey response on behalf of their platform. SBIA will then do a deeper analysis on the issues raised. Your responses will be confidential and will be used internally to help us form our official, comprehensive industry comment letter with recommendations. The survey results are anonymous, but we need the name of your fund on your survey submission so that: 1) we can follow up with you on issues that are important to you, and 2) to make sure funds are not accidentally weighing in twice. Please complete and submit your firm’s survey by Friday, November 4.

To assist your firm in completing the survey, you may download a PDF of all survey questions to share with your colleagues so that you may discuss internally before you submit. These regulations will impact every partner, CFO, CCO, investor relations, business development, etc. professional in your firm, so please get your firm’s views in order internally before you fill out the online survey. If you have financial analysis or deeper commentary that you would like to share, then please email it to SBIC@SBIA.ORG. Click the links below to view and download PDFs of the:

➡️ Formal SBA proposal

➡️ SBIA Topline Summary

➡️ Survey Questions

SBIA is the voice of the SBIC industry. Every American citizen is free to comment individually on the regulatory proposals; however, it is far more effective to have an comprehensive, thoughtful, and unified industry analysis and response. There will be several SBIA conference calls for our members on these proposals. Also, the SBA will be holding their own “town halls” or “listening sessions” on these proposals in the coming weeks. The legally required “comment period” ends in mid-December. These matters will be closely reviewed by the SBIA’s SBIC Council, LP Council, and Board of Governors.