| Small Business Stock Registration Forms |
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| A company that decides to sell its shares to the public normally must file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Before the company may sell the shares, the staff of the Commission must declare the registration statement effective. The basic registration form (Form S-1) includes two parts, including part one, a prospectus or selling document, and part two, additional information required by the Commission that is publicly available but does not have to be provided to investors. More... |
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| Public Reporting Requirements for Major Company Events |
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| Major events for public companies must be made public through the filing of Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 8-K must be filed within four days after the events outlined in Sections 1 through 5 and 9 below. More... |
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| Short-Swing Profits |
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| Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C.S. § 78p(b), limits the ability of corporate insiders and principal stockholders to profit from their access to nonpublic information about their company. Under Section 16(b), profits from two trades of a company's publicly traded securities within six months by a director, officer, or beneficial owner of more than ten percent of a security of the company are owed to and may be recovered by the company. If the company does not retrieve those profits, shareholders may file a derivative action to obtain a court order to have the profits given over to the company. More... |
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| Trading Plans to Avoid Insider Trading Presumptions |
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| An insider of a public company who trades in the company's stock while aware of material but nonpublic information about the company is presumed to be trading on the basis of that information in violation of Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5. To counter that presumption, companies may adopt Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans. More... |
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| Public Comment and Judicial Review Regarding Government Antitrust Settlements |
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| Under Section 5(a) of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 16(a), a final judgment in a successful federal government antitrust enforcement action is prima facie evidence in a subsequent private action for treble damages of the defendant's antitrust violation. However, a consent decree agreed to by a defendant in a federal government action before any testimony is taken is not considered prima facie evidence in a subsequent private action. More... |
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