Shortly after the first anniversary of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act — see the March 28, 2012 issue of the Digest) Mary Jo White was sworn in as the 31st Chair of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

In 2011, European startups and other projects raised approximately €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) through crowdfunding, according to a report from Nesta, an innovation focused foundation located in the United Kingdom. In The Venture Crowd, Nesta researchers found that a significant portion of those funds raised were by reward-based crowdfunding, where participants receive non-financial rewards in exchange for donating to a project. However, other crowdfunding models are growing rapidly including donation crowdfunding, crowdfunded lending and equity crowdfunding.