At this time, however, crowdfunding seems to be legally limited to seeking donations, as opposed to investors, and the SEC has yet to finalize the rules related to equity-based crowdfunding.
The Plaza Group claims in bankruptcy filings that it was undone by recent accounting rules that force private equity partnerships to write down the value of their investments in accordance with market valuations, as opposed to holding them at cost.
Frankfurt's Neuer Markt exchange, which has had some success in bringing young companies to the market, and in attracting new equity investors, has done so by ditching traditional rules.
