SEC Reporting After a Form 10 Goes Effective – Form 10 Registration Statements

If a company files a registration statement on Form 10 under Section 12 of the Exchange Act, it becomes an SEC reporting company and the company becomes subject to the same annual, quarterly, and current reporting obligations that result from Securities Act registration.

Additionally, the company’s shareholders and management become subject to various requirements discussed below upon effectiveness of the company’s Form 10 registration statement. A company whose Form 10 has been declared effective must comply not only with the SEC’s periodic reporting requirements, it must also comply with the SEC’s proxy rules whenever its management submits proposals to shareholders that will be subject to a shareholder vote, usually at a shareholders’ meeting. As explained below, Form 10 is often used in connection with going public transactions.

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Comply with the Proxy rules After Form 10 Effectiveness

Companies filing a Form 10 registration statement become subject to the proxy rules. The proxy rules get their name from the common practice of management asking shareholders to provide them with a document called a “proxy card” granting authority to vote the shareholders’ shares at the meeting. The proxy rules require the company to provide certain disclosures in a proxy statement to its shareholders, together with a proxy card in a specified format, when soliciting authority to vote the shareholders’ shares. Proxy statements describe matters up for shareholder vote, and include management and executive compensation information if the shareholders are voting for the election of directors.

If shareholders will take action on a matter but management is not soliciting proxies, the company must provide shareholders with an information statement that is similar to a proxy statement. The proxy rules also require the company to send an annual report to shareholders if the shareholders are voting for directors. The proxy rules also govern when your company must provide shareholder lists to investors and when it must include a proposal from a shareholder in its proxy statement or information statement.

Beneficial ownership reports After Form 10 Effectiveness

After a company’s Form 10 is declared effective by the SEC, insiders become subject to certain filing obligations. If a company has registered a class of its equity securities under the Exchange Act, shareholders who acquire more than 5% of the outstanding shares of that class must file beneficial owner reports on Schedule 13D or 13G until their holdings drop below 5%. These filings contain background information about the shareholders who file them as well as their investment intentions, providing investors and the company with information about accumulations of securities that may potentially change or influence company management and policies.

Transaction reporting by Officers, Directors and 10% Shareholders After Form 10 Effectiveness

Section 16 of the Exchange Act applies to an SEC reporting company’s directors and officers, as well as shareholders who own more than 10% of a class of the company’s equity securities registered under the Exchange Act. The rules under Section 16 require these “insiders” to report most of their transactions involving the company’s equity securities to the SEC within two business days.

Section 16 also establishes mechanisms for a company to recover “short swing” profits, or profits an insider realizes from a purchase and sale of the company’s security that occur within a six-month period. In addition, Section 16 prohibits short selling by insiders of any class of the company’s securities, whether or not that class is registered under the Exchange Act.

Loans to directors and officers

Section 13(k) of the Exchange Act prohibits SEC reporting companies from making personal loans to their directors and officers. Loans made in the ordinary course of business at market rates by issuers that are financial institutions or in the business of consumer lending are excepted from the prohibition.

Tender offers

The SEC’s tender offer rules apply to transactions in which a public company faces a third-party tender offer or “takeover.” The rules also apply if a public company makes a tender offer for its own securities. The filings required by these rules provide information to the holders of the securities about the person making the tender offer and the terms of the offer. The company that is the subject of a takeover must file its responses to the tender offer with the SEC. The rules also set minimum time periods for the tender offer and provide other protections to shareholders.

NYSE and NASDAQ Listing After a Form 10 is Effective

If your company lists its securities on a securities exchange such as the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE“), it will be subject to the rules or “listing standards” governing all companies listed on that exchange, including rules on corporate governance and audit committees. Companies whose securities are not listed on an exchange but are traded only through the facilities of the OTC Bulletin Board or OTC Markets Group’s OTC Link typically are not subject to additional standards on corporate governance and audit committees.

For further information about periodic reporting or this securities law blog post, please contact Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney at 101 Plaza Real S, Suite 202 N, Boca Raton, Florida, (561) 416-8956, by email at [email protected] or visit  www.securitieslawyer101.com.   This securities law blog post is provided as a general informational service to clients and friends of Hamilton & Associates Law Group and should not be construed as, and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter, nor does this message create an attorney-client relationship. Please note that the prior results discussed herein do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Hamilton & Associates | Securities Lawyers
Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney
101 Plaza Real South, Suite 202 North
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Telephone: (561) 416-8956
Facsimile: (561) 416-2855
www.SecuritiesLawyer101.com