In the wake of Facebook's troubled Initial Public Offering (IPO) on May 17, a Senate Banking Subcommittee looked into the IPO process. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) chaired the hearing.
An IPO is the first public sale of a private company's stock. The company employs an underwriter to determine the type of security to offer, the offering price and the best time to make it public.
Witnesses included: Ann Sherman, Associate Professor of Finance, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois; Joel H. Trotter, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP; Lise Buyer, Founder and Principal, Class V Group LLC; and Ilan Moscovitz, Senior Analyst, The Motley Fool.