| The Regulation A Registration Exemption for Small Securities Offerings |
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| Under section 3(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities and Exchange Commission has established Regulation A to exempt small offerings of securities from registration requirements. While the exemption does not relieve a company from its obligation not to use false or misleading statements or from state law requirements, Regulation A allows companies to issue and sell securities with less burden and expense than normally required. 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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| Section 31 or SEC Transaction Fees |
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| Under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C.S. § 78ee, the Securities and Exchange Commission recovers costs of regulating securities markets and transactions. Section 31 fees, which exceeded $1 billion in 2004, are "designed to recover the costs to the Government of the supervision and regulation of securities markets and securities professionals, and costs related to such supervision and regulation, including enforcement activities, policy and rulemaking activities, administration, legal services, and international regulatory activities." 15 U.S.C.S. § 78ee(a).More... |
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| Disclosure of a Corporate Opportunity |
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| Generally, a corporate director breaches the duty of loyalty if she seizes a business opportunity for herself that the corporation was financially capable of undertaking or in which the corporation had a reasonable interest or expectancy. Additionally, the director's loyalty is called into question if she takes personal advantage of a business opportunity that was in line with the corporation's business. 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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