Regulation A+ Improvement Act of 2026

**1) What happened and its current status:** On March 24, 2026, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced S.4170, the Regulation A+ Improvement Act of 2026, in the U.S. Senate. The bill was immediately read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. A companion bill, H.R. 6541, is further along in the House — it has been placed on the Union Calendar. Both are early-stage; no hearings or markups have occurred yet. The legislative path requires committee approval, floor votes in both chambers, and reconciliation of any differences before Presidential action. **2) The money trail:** This bill is a regulatory exemption expansion — it does NOT authorize or appropriate government spending (funding_amount_usd = 0). The mechanism is amending Section 3(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 to raise the exemption ceiling from $50M to $150M, adjusted for inflation biennially. This enables SMEs to raise larger amounts via a streamlined, less costly SEC process than a full IPO. Money flows through private markets: issuers pay lower compliance costs, investment banks earn underwriting fees on larger offerings, and retail platforms earn transaction fees from distributing these securities to individual investors. **3) Structural winners and losers:** Winners: (a) Retail fintech platforms — Robinhood ($HOOD) has the most direct Reg A+ distribution product (IPO Access), SoFi ($SOFI) offers retail investment access, Coinbase ($COIN) enables tokenized security offerings. These platforms benefit from a larger supply of investable product that is accessible to their user bases. (b) Bulge-bracket investment banks — Goldman Sachs ($GS), Morgan Stanley ($MS), JPMorgan ($JPM) — these firms underwrite and place Reg A+ offerings for SMEs. The 3x increase in maximum deal size directly expands their mid-market ECM fee pools. Losers: No direct losers, but traditional IPO gatekeepers (full-service IPO underwriting desks) may see a slight shift of smaller deals away from full SEC registration toward the cheaper Reg A+ exemption. **4) Real market data analysis:** As of April 28, 2026, the covered stocks show strong bullish momentum over the past 30 days: $MS +20.18%, $GS +15.4%, $JPM +10.12%, $HOOD +24.31%, $SOFI +20.55%, $COIN +20.45%. The 7-day trends are slightly negative (-0.36% to -7.19%), consistent with profit-taking after a strong month. All six stocks are trading within 5-20% of their 52-week highs, indicating the market is pricing in continued favorable conditions for capital markets activity. The bill's introduction in late March likely contributed to the April rally alongside broader market factors. **5) Timeline and remaining steps:** The bill is in the very early stages. The Senate Banking Committee (Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-OH, or Ranking Member Tim Scott, R-SC, depending on majority) must hold hearings and a markup. A committee vote is needed before a floor vote. The House companion (H.R. 6541) is on the Union Calendar, meaning it has passed the House Financial Services Committee and awaits a floor vote. Best-case scenario for enactment: late 2026 or early 2027. Given the bipartisan nature of capital formation bills (JOBS Act I/II had broad support), passage probability is moderate-to-high if brought to a vote.