C10 Issuing Corporate Securities Flashcards
Securities Act of 1933
Regulates new issues of corporate securities sold to the public and requires securities issuers to provide enough information (Prospectus) for investors to make fully informed buying decisions. Also called: paper act, full disclosure act, new issues act, truth in securities act, and prospectus act.
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Addresses secondary trading activity, personnel involved in secondary trading, and fraudulent trading practices.
Registration of Securities
Required by Securities Act of 1933. Requires:
- Registration of new issues (there are exceptions)
- Issuers to provide full and fair disclosure (prospectus)
- Make all information fully available
- Regulating the underwriting and distributions of primary and secondary issues
- Provides criminal penalties for fraud for new issues
Equity Security Registration Steps
- Registration Statement
- Cooling off Period (Preliminary Prospectus/Tombstone Ads/Due Dilligence Meeting)
- Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Registration Statement
Registration statement must contain:
- Description about issuer’s business.
- Names, addresses of company officers and directors, and their salaries, along with a five year business history of each.
- Amount of corporate stock that business officers own, and which investors own more than 10%.
- The company’s capitalization including its equity and debt.
- A description of how the proceeds will be used.
- Whether the company is involved in any legal proceedings.
Cooling off Period
Begins after the issuer files regiatration statement with the SEC.
20 day cooling off period occurs before the registration becomes effective.
SEC usually takes longer than the 20 days, however the minimum is 20 calendar days. SEC extends the period via a Deficiency Letter
No one can solicit sales during the cooling off period, but indications of interest can be solicited with a Prelimianry Prospectus/Tombstone ads.
SEC may issue a stop order if the registration has not met requirements, or if fraud is suspected.
Preliminary Prospectus
Also called a Red Herring
Can be used as a prospecting tool (allows people to gauge investor’s interest)
Two items missing from the preliminary prospectus are the public offering price and the effective date.
Tombstone Advertisement
Only form of advertising allowed during the cooling off period.
Contains:
- The Issuer
- Number of shares being sold
- The Underwriters
- Type of Secuirty
Does Not Contain:
- Price
- Sale date

Due Diligence Meeting
The underwriter must conduct a formal due diligence meeting to provide information about the issue, the financial background, and the intended use of the proceeds.
SEC Review and Disclaimer
Examines the prospectus for completeness.
The front of every prospectus must contain a clearly printed SEC Disclaimer specifying the limits of the SEC’s review procedures.
Disclaimer Statement -SEC does not guarentee accuracy of information.
Prospectus Delivery Requirement
For IPOs:
- 90 days if the security is to be quoted on the Over the Counter (OTC) Pink Sheets or over the OTCBB (non-NASDAQ)
- 25 days if the security is to be listed on an exchange or quoted over NASDAQ.
Non - IPOs (additoinal offerings)
- 40 days if the security is to be quoted on the Over the Counter (OTC) Pink Sheets or over the OTCBB (non-NASDAQ)
- Not Required if the security is to be listed on an exchange or quoted over NASDAQ.
Fraud (Misrepresentations)
The people below can be sued by the purchasers of the stock for fraud:
- The Issuer (Company that issued shares)
- The Underwriter
- Officers and Directors
- All parties that signed the registration document
- Acountants and attorneys who helped prepare the registration document
The SEC cannot be sued.
Final Prospectus
Prepared once the registration statement becomes effective.
If the final prospectus can be viewed on the SEC’s website. the prospectus will be deemed to have been delivered to the investor through the “access equals delivery rule”
Adds the following information to the Prelimianry Prospectus:
- Final offering price
- Underwriting spread
- Effective Date
Underwriting Syndicate
A group of other broker/dealers to assist in the distribution of the new issue. Occurs when the issue is too large for one company. One comapny is the lead underwriter called Managing Underwriter or Lead Underwriter.
FINRA Rule 5130
Replaced “Free-Riding and Witholding Rule.
A broker dealer must the whole issue available to the public and cannot withhold shares to sell to “restricted persons”
- *a)** designed to protect the integrity of the public offering process by ensuring that insider trading does not occur
- *b)** applies to new issues only
- *c)** prohibits firms from selling a new issue to any account where restricted persons are beneficial owners, or immediate family members
*immediate family members include parents, in laws, spouses, children, or any other individual to whom the person provides material support
*if they live with a restricted individual, then they are one as well.
Roles and Responsibilities - Issuer (The Company)
- Responsible for filing the registration statement with the SEC
- Filing a registration statement with the states in which it intends to sell securities (also known as blue skying the issue)
- Negotiating the security’s price and the amount of the spread with the underwriter.
Roles and Responsibilities - Underwriter
Requiremnts to be an Underwriter:
- Underwriters of nonexempt corporate securities are required to be FINRA member firms.
- US nonmember firms, like banks, cannot participate as investment bankers in corporate issues.
- Banks may participate in municipal underwriting.
Responsibilites of the Underwriter:
- Market the issue to investors
- Assist in the determination of the terms of the offering
- Purchase the securities directly from teh issuer to resll to investors
- Publish Prospectuses
- Publish Tombstone Ads
Roles and Responsibilities - Selling Group
Act as sales agents. Selling group members have no financial liability and act as agents because they have no commitment to buy securities from the issuer.
Types of Markets
New issue market (IPO) - composed of companies going public by selling common stock to the public for the first time.
Additional issue market - is made up of new securities issued by companies that are already publically owned.
Types of Offerings
Primary offering - is one in which the proceeds of the underwriting go to the issuing corporation.
Secondary offering - is one in which one or more major stockholders in the corporation are selling all or a major portion of their holdings and proceeds are paid to the stockholders rather than to the corporation.
Combined (Split) offering - combination of both primary and secondary offering.
Shelf offering - -an issuer who is already a publicly traded company can register new securities without selling the entire issue at once. Once registered it is good for two years, and allows the issuer to sell portions of a shelf offering over a three year period.
Types of Underwriting Commitments
Firm Commitment - Underwriter guarantees to purchase all of the shares being offered regardless of if they can sell them to investors. The UNderwriter will usually have a “market out clause” that would free the underwriter from its obligation to purchase al the shares in teh advent of a developemnt the impairs the quality of the securities.
Best Efforts - Underwriter will do its best to sell all the shares, but not committed to purchase them all if they don’t sell.
All or None (AON)- Issuing corporation has determined that it wants an agreement outlining that the underwriter must either sell all of the shares, or cancel the underwriting. Funds collected held in escrow in case money has to be returned.
Mini-Max - a Best Efforts underwriting with a floor (min) and a ceiling (max) on a dollar amount of securities that the issuer is willing to sell.
Standby Commitment - A Firm Commitment underwriting done with preemptive rights offering. Underwriter guarentees to purchase all shares not sold to people with preemptive rights.
Underwriting Financials
Public offering price - Price investors pay
Underwriting proceeds - The amount the issuer (company) receives
Underwriter’s Spread - Difference between the underwriting proceeds and the public offering price. How much he underwriter’s make.
(Public Offering Price) - (Underwriter’s Spread) = (Underwriting Proceeds)
Underwriting Fees
Manager’s Fee - Paid only to Lead Underwriter for negotiating the deal and managing the underwriting and distribution process. Usually the smallest of the three fees.
Underwriting Fee - Paid to all Underwriters for assuming the risk of buying securities from the issuer without assurance that securities can be resold.
Selling Concession - Paid to all the underwrtiters and brokers who sell the security to the public. Usually the largest of the three fees
Factors that determine the Size of the Underwriting Spread
- The type of securities to be offered
- The size of the issue
- The quality of the securities to be issued
- The perceived demand for the securities
- The type of underwriting agreement
- The quality of the issuer’s business