Advertising hedge funds: Bull marketing

Come with us now into the exciting world of the '33 Act with a focus on Section 4(2) [now 4(a)(2)] of the Act and a double bump on rule 506.
From The Economist:

Alternative-investment firms are preparing to pitch to the public

TOBACCO and alcohol brands face heavy restrictions when it comes to advertising. Hedge funds and other purveyors of alternative investments have suffered similar prohibitions on marketing their products. That ban may soon be lifted in America. (Europe’s pending new regime for alternative investments is stricter, although it has lots of loopholes.) Long consigned to silence, the money men are starting to practise their sales pitches.

Change is expected as part of the JOBS act, a 2012 bill designed to make it easier for smaller American businesses to raise cash. Hedge funds, private-equity firms and others piggybacked on the reforms in the hope of widening the pool of investors they can pitch to. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is busy writing the rules that would put the bill into practice. That process has been bedevilled by delays but it seems inevitable it will overturn a Depression-era ban on “general solicitation”.

 Under the current regime, alternative-investment firms are not only banned from advertising, they cannot do or say anything that could be taken as an inducement to raise money. In theory, that means they cannot even tell curious onlookers—including, often, your correspondent—how their funds are faring. Only the most general waffle about market conditions is tolerated by twitchy compliance lawyers....MORE

Next question: Does the CFTC harmonize with the SEC in the case of commodity pools?
Stay tuned.
(sometimes I crack myself up; there are probably 18 people in the country who know or care about the question)

Addendum:
Oops, a sharp-eyed geek tells me I should mention Section 3(c)(1) and Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 though I'm not sure if the general solicitation rules of the JOBS act apply.