Small Business Investment Companies: Passive Business Expansion and Technical Clarifications

On December 28, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule to expand permitted investments in passive businesses and provide further clarification with regard to investments in such businesses for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program, with an effective date of January 27, 2017. In the meantime, a memorandum dated January 20, 2017 from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'' calls for agencies to temporarily postpone the effective date of rules not yet effective and invite new public comment. In view of this development, SBA is delaying the effective date of this rule until March 21, 2017, and is inviting additional public comment on the final rule. Any timely public comments received will be considered and any changes to the final rule will be published in the Federal Register.