U.S. TREASURY EXPANDS SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM IN ARKANSAS

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday (Feb. 23) approval of five additional state and territory plans for up to $339 million in funding under the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

Arkansas was approved for up to $81.6 million under the plan. Guam, Rhode Island, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Wisconsin were the other states and territories with approved plans. In total, the U.S. Treasury has approved $6.6 billion under the program. The funds will reportedly be targeted at minority and women business owners.

The funds in Arkansas will be used to operate seven SSBCI programs. Those programs include a capital access program, two loan participation programs, two loan guarantee programs, and two equity/venture capital (VC) programs.

Arkansas allocated $15 million to a loan guarantee program and $7.5 million to a loan participation program that are each designed to reach underserved businesses, the Treasury reported. The equity/venture capital programs, allocated a combined $46 million, will target investments of $1 million in Arkansas-based, high-growth companies raising venture capital and will capitalize seed and early-stage venture funds focused primarily on investing in Arkansas-based companies.

The American Rescue Plan reauthorized and expanded SSBCI, which was originally established in 2010 to increase access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The new SSBCI has provided $10 billion to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to increase access to capital and promote entrepreneurship, especially in traditionally underserved communities as they emerge from the pandemic.

ARKANSAS TO RECEIVE $424,000 IN CRYPTOCURRENCY SETTLEMENT

The Arkansas Securities Department (ASD) recently issued a consent order against the cryptocurrency platform Nexo Capital Inc. (Nexo), regarding unregistered offers and sales of securities in the form of digital asset investments.

Nexo, a Cayman Islands corporation established in 2018, provided crypto-asset-related financial services including investing, trading, borrowing, and lending, to retail and institutional customers in the U.S.

Nexo was alleged to have failed to comply with state registration requirements and, as a result, Arkansas investors were sold unregistered securities in violation of Arkansas law and additionally were deprived of critical information and disclosures necessary to understand the potential risks of an Earn Interest Product (EIP) program.

Nexo agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle the allegations with the 53 U.S. NASAA-member jurisdictions and will pay a fine of $424,528.30 to the Arkansas Securities Department. Further, Nexo will cease offering and selling the EIP or accepting further investments in the EIP until such activities are compliant with applicable state and federal securities laws.