The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has proposed changes to its SBIC Early Stage Program, a feature of the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program. SBA has proposed a number of regulatory changes that seek to broaden access to the Early Stage Program and strengthen the impact of SBIC’s on early stage small businesses.

SBA has introduced regulatory changes based on extensive consultation with SBIC Program stakeholders and experts in the early stage investment industry as part of SBA’s advance notice of proposed rule making concerning its SBIC Early Stage Program published in the Federal Register in March 2015.  The major changes include:

1. Allow Early Stage SBIC applicants to apply to the program on a rolling basis.
2. Allow existing Early Stage SBIC applicants to apply for a subsequent fund.
3. Allow Early Stage SBICs to utilize a line of credit subject to certain terms without SBA’s prior approval.
4. Increase maximum leverage from $50 million to $75 million.

These proposed changes are open to public comment for 30 days. To submit comments on the proposed changes to SBA’s Early Stage Program, please visit https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=SBA-2015-0002-0009.  For additional information, visit SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/inv/earlystage.