SEC Issues Significant M&A No-Action Letter

M&A brokers no longer have to register as broker-dealers to facilitate mergers, acquisitions, business sales and business combinations. According to Baker Donelson’s Investment Adviser Group, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets letter, issued Feb. 3, relieves brokers of burdensome requirements, provides important clarification and allows brokers to withdraw their SEC registration if they only represent private companies in M&A transactions. It lists several factors that brokers should consider to determine whether they are exempt from registration requirements.