As stated elsewhere, GLBSE is not located in the U.S. The SEC can not shut down GLBSE any more than they can shut down the London Stock Exchange.
This guy probably thought the same: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-filesharing-extradition-idUSTRE80C15C20120113
I personally feel the choice of UK as a place to register GLBSE was maybe not the best. UK is known to be very subordinate to the US government. I'd feel more comfortable if they had chosen a country like Switzerland, Iceland, or even a micro-country like Liechtenstein or Singapore. But well, what do I know, IANAL.
GLBSE just needs to be structured differently and hire an accredited share broker. The SEC doesnt like you selling shares direct to the public they require some kind of stock broker.
The FSA does not allow anyone to sell shares to retail investors (i.e. non accredited investors) without a license. They also do not allow an 'exchange' to facilitate said share offerings/sales
Which means the SEC will not come to shut down GLBSE but they can simply ask the FSA to look into it.
Regulation in this area is almost the same in the USA as it is in Europe.
As Nefario is already in the process of getting GLBSE FSA regulated they presumably already know about GLBSE. The downside of trying to get regulated is of course that when they say NO... they will shut you down. And if Nefario transfers GLBSE to another jurisdiction they can still go after him as they explicitly told him he's not allowed to do it.
If they say yes... then it opens up a lot of possibilities to bring Bitcoin into the mainstream, but it will mean KYC/AML etc...so it certainly won't be anonymous, not for the issuers and not for the investors
