Virginia Law

Article 4. Registration of Securities.

It shall be unlawful for any person to offer or sell any security unless (i) the security is registered under this chapter, (ii) the security or transaction is exempted by this chapter, or (iii) the security is a federal covered security.

Code 1950, § 13-110; 1956, c. 428; 1997, c. 279; 2003, c. 595.

A. The following securities may be registered by notification:

1. Any security whose issuer (which, for the purposes of this subsection, shall include any predecessor by merger, consolidation or acquisition of assets) has been in continuous operation for at least five years if there has been no default within the past three fiscal years in the payment of principal, interest or dividends on any security of the issuer with a fixed maturity or a fixed interest or dividend provision, and (where the security being registered does not have a fixed maturity or a fixed interest or dividend provision) (a) the issuer is a corporation which has assets of at least $500,000 after deduction of depreciation and other reserves, which has a net worth of at least $10,000, which is incorporated under the laws of this Commonwealth and which conducts a substantial portion of its business in this Commonwealth, or (b) the issuer during its past three fiscal years has had average net earnings applicable to all securities without a fixed maturity or a fixed interest or dividend provision (whether of one or more classes) outstanding at the date when the registration statement is filed (i) aggregating at least five percent of the amount of such outstanding securities as measured by their maximum public offering price or their market price on a day within 30 days of the date of filing the registration statement, whichever is higher, or their book value on a day within 90 days of the date of filing the registration statement if there is neither a readily determinable market price nor a public offering price or (ii) if no such securities are outstanding, then aggregating at least five percent of the amount of such securities then offered for sale based upon the maximum price at which such securities are to be offered for sale; and all accounting determinations required by this section shall be made in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices. Noncumulative preferred stock shall be deemed for the purposes of this subsection a security with a fixed dividend provision.

2. Any security registered for nonissuer distribution if (i) any security of the same class has ever been registered or (ii) the security being registered was originally issued pursuant to an exemption in this chapter.

B. A registration statement under this section shall state the facts showing eligibility of the securities for registration by notification, the amount and maximum offering price of the securities proposed to be offered in this Commonwealth, and a copy of any prospectus to be used in connection with the offering. It shall be accompanied by a fee of 1/20 of one percent of the maximum offering price of the securities proposed to be offered in this Commonwealth; provided that the fee shall not be less than $100 nor more than $250.

C. If no stop order is in effect and no proceeding for the issuance of a stop order is pending, a registration statement under this section shall automatically become effective at three o'clock in the afternoon of the second full business day after filing of the registration statement or the last amendment thereto or at such earlier time as the Commission may determine by order, letter, telegram, or electronic means.

D. The Commission may require that a prospectus be used in connection with the offering. If the Commission requires the use of a prospectus, it shall be unlawful to sell any security registered under this section except upon delivery of a prospectus to each person to whom an offer is made. The prospectus shall contain such information specified in subsection (b) of § 13.1-510 as may be designated by the Commission as necessary for the protection of investors and such additional information as the Commission may require.

1956, c. 428; 1981, c. 168; 1984, c. 771; 1993, c. 179; 2003, c. 595.

A. Any security for which a registration statement has been filed under the Securities Act of 1933 in connection with the same offering may be registered by coordination if no stop order or refusal order is in effect against such registration statement and no proceeding looking toward such an order is pending.

B. A registration statement under this section shall consist of the prospectus filed under the Securities Act of 1933 together with all amendments or supplements thereto and a statement of the amount and maximum offering price of the securities proposed to be offered in this Commonwealth. The Commission may require that it also include the articles of incorporation and bylaws, any agreements with underwriters, any indenture or any other instrument governing the issuance of the security to be registered, a specimen of the security and any other information documents filed under the Securities Act of 1933. The registration statement shall be accompanied by a fee of one-twentieth of one percent of the maximum aggregate offering price of the securities proposed to be offered in this Commonwealth; provided that the fee shall not be less than $200 nor more than $700, except that in the case of a unit investment trust, as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, the fee shall not be less than $400 nor more than $1,000.

C. A registration statement under this section shall automatically become effective at the moment the federal registration statement becomes effective if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (i) No stop order is in effect and no proceeding for the issuance of a stop order is pending and (ii) the registration statement and all amendments other than a final amendment (hereinafter termed the "price amendment") which is limited substantially to information concerning the offering price, underwriting and selling discounts or commissions, amount of proceeds, conversion rates, call prices, and other matters dependent upon the offering price have been on file with the Commission, or any entity designated by order or rule of the Commission, for at least three full business days. Unless the definitive information concerning price and other matters dependent thereon has been so on file with the Commission or such entity, the registrant shall promptly notify the Commission by telephone, telegram, or electronic means of the date and time when the federal registration statement became effective and the content of the federal price amendment, if any, and shall promptly file a post-effective amendment containing the information in the federal price amendment but exclusive of exhibits. Failure to receive such notification or such post-effective amendment if required shall be grounds for the entry of a stop order retroactively denying effectiveness to the registration statement, without notice or hearing, if the Commission promptly notifies the registrant by telephone, telegram, or electronic means (and promptly confirms by letter, telegram, or electronic means when it notifies by telephone) of the issuance of such an order. If the registrant proves that he complied with the requirements of this subsection as to notice and post-effective amendment, the stop order shall be void as of the time of its entry. The Commission may, by order, letter, telegram, or electronic means, accelerate the effectiveness of any registration statement and may waive any or all of the conditions specified in clause (ii) above. If the federal registration has become effective before all of such conditions have been satisfied and they are not so waived, the registration statement under this section shall automatically become effective as soon as all of such conditions have been satisfied.

1956, c. 428; 1984, c. 771; 1990, c. 90; 1994, c. 10; 2003, c. 595.

(a) Any security may be registered by qualification.

(b) A registration statement under this section shall contain that part of the following information as required by the Commission:

(1) With respect to the issuer and any significant subsidiary: its name, address and form of organization; the state (or foreign jurisdiction) and date of its organization; the general character of its business; and a description of its physical properties and equipment; and a statement of the general competitive conditions in the industry or business in which it is or will be engaged;

(2) With respect to every director and officer of the issuer (or person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions): his name, address and principal occupation for the past five years; the amount of securities of the issuer held by him as of a specified date within ninety days of the filing of the registration statement; the amount of the securities covered by the registration statement to which he has indicated his intention to subscribe; and a description of any material interest in any material transaction with the issuer or any significant subsidiary effected within the past three years or proposed to be effected;

(3) With respect to persons covered by subdivision (2) of this subsection: the remuneration paid during the past twelve months and estimated to be paid during the ensuing twelve months, directly or indirectly, by the issuer (together with all predecessors, parents, subsidiaries and affiliates) to all such persons in the aggregate;

(4) With respect to any person owning of record, or beneficially if known, ten percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of equity security of the issuer: the information specified in subdivision (2) of this subsection other than his occupation;

(5) With respect to every promoter if the issuer was organized within the past three years: the information specified in subdivision (2) of this subsection, any amount paid to him within such period or intended to be paid to him and the consideration for any such payment;

(6) With respect to any person other than the issuer on whose behalf any part of the offering is to be made: his name and address; the amount of securities of the issuer held by him as of the date of the filing of the registration statement; a description of any material interest in any material transaction with the issuer or any subsidiary effected within the past three years or proposed to be effected; and a statement of his reasons for making the offering;

(7) The capitalization and long term debt (on both a current and a pro forma basis) of the issuer and any subsidiary, including (i) a description of each class of security outstanding or being registered or otherwise offered, and (ii) a statement of the amount and kind of consideration (whether in the form of cash, physical assets, services, patents, goodwill or anything else) for which the issuer or any such subsidiary has issued any of its securities within the past two years or is obligated to issue any of its securities;

(8) The kind and amount of securities to be offered; the proposed offering price or the method by which it is to be computed; any variation therefrom at which any portion of the offering is to be made to any person or class of persons other than the underwriters, with a specification of any such person or class; the basis upon which the offering is to be made if otherwise than cash; the estimated aggregate underwriting and selling discounts or commissions and finder's fees (including separately cash, securities, contracts or anything else of value to accrue to the underwriters in connection with the offering) or, if such discounts or commissions are variable, the basis of determining them and their maximum and minimum amounts; the estimated amounts of other selling expenses, including legal, engineering and accounting charges; the name and address of every underwriter and every recipient of a finders' fee; a copy of any underwriting or selling-group agreement pursuant to which the distribution is to be made, or the proposed form of any such agreement whose terms have not yet been determined; and a description of the plan of distribution of any securities which are to be offered otherwise than through an underwriter;

(9) The estimated cash proceeds to be received by the issuer from the offering; the purposes for which such proceeds are to be used by the issuer; the amount to be used for each purpose; the order of priority in which the proceeds will be used for the purposes stated; the amounts of any funds to be raised from other sources to achieve such purposes; the sources of any such funds; and, if any part of the proceeds is to be used to acquire any property (including goodwill) otherwise than in the ordinary course of business, the names and addresses of the vendors, the purchase price, the names of any persons who have received commissions in connection with such acquisition and the amounts of such commissions and any other expense in connection with such acquisition (including the cost of borrowing money to finance such acquisition);

(10) A description of any stock options (or other security options) outstanding, or to be created in connection with the offering, together with the amount of any such options held or to be held by every person required to be named in subdivisions (2), (4), (5), (6) or (8) of this subsection and by any person who holds or will hold ten percent or more in the aggregate of any such options;

(11) The dates of, parties to and general effect concisely stated of, every management or other material contract made or to be made otherwise than in the ordinary course of business if it is to be performed in whole or in part at or after the filing of the registration statement or was made within the past two years, together with a copy of every such contract; and a description of any pending litigation or proceeding to which the issuer is a party and which materially affects its business or assets (including any such litigation or proceeding known to be contemplated by governmental authorities);

(12) A copy of any prospectus, pamphlet, circular, form letter, advertisement or sales literature intended as of the effective date to be used in connection with the offering;

(13) A specimen of the security being registered; a copy of the issuer's articles of incorporation and bylaws (or their substantial equivalents) as currently in effect; and a copy of any indenture or other instrument covering the security to be registered;

(14) An opinion of counsel as to the legality of the security being registered which shall state whether the security when sold will be legally issued, fully paid and nonassessable, and, if a debt security, a binding obligation of the issuer;

(15) A balance sheet of the issuer as of a date within four months prior to the filing of the registration statement; a profit and loss statement and analysis of surplus for each of the three fiscal years preceding the date of the balance sheet and for any period between the close of the last fiscal year and the date of the balance sheet, or for the period of the issuer's and any predecessor's existence if less than three years; and if any part of the proceeds of the offering is to be applied to the purchase of any business, the same financial statements which would be required if such business were the registrant;

(16) Such additional information as the Commission may require.

(c) A registration statement shall state the amount of securities to be offered in this Commonwealth and shall be accompanied by a filing fee of one-tenth of one percent of the maximum aggregate offering price at which the securities are proposed to be offered in this Commonwealth; provided that the fee shall not be less than $250 nor more than $500.

(d) A registration statement under this section shall become effective when the Commission so orders.

(e) It shall be unlawful to sell any security registered under this section that constitutes the whole or a part of an unsold allotment or subscription by a broker-dealer as a participant in the underwriting of such securities except upon delivery to the purchaser of a prospectus. The prospectus shall contain such part of the information specified in subsection (b) as may be designated by the Commission as necessary for the protection of investors.

(f) The Commission shall have authority in its discretion to require that sales be made only pursuant to a subscription contract the form of which shall have been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement. If the Commission requires a subscription contract, it shall be unlawful to sell any security registered under this section except pursuant to such a subscription contract duly signed by the purchaser, a copy of which shall be delivered to him.

(g) [Repealed.]

(h) If any prospectus, document or exhibit filed as provided in this section discloses that any of the securities sought to be registered by qualification, or as much as twenty-five percent of any class of the securities of the issuer to be outstanding, were or are intended to be issued for any patent right, copyright, trademark, process, formula, goodwill or other intangible assets, or for organization or promotion fees or expenses, the Commission may require that such securities shall be delivered in escrow to some satisfactory depository under an escrow agreement. The owners of such securities shall not be entitled to sell or transfer such securities or to withdraw such securities from escrow until the issuer in any period of thirty-six consecutive months earns an annual average of six percent of the public offering price times all shares of common stock then outstanding plus those to be outstanding through the exercise of warrants or options as computed under normal and customary accounting procedures or upon order of the Commission, when no circumstance is apparent which, in the opinion of the Commission, would warrant continuation of the escrow. In case of dissolution or insolvency during the time such securities are held in escrow, the owners of such securities shall not participate in the assets until after the owners of all other securities shall have been paid in full. If any securities sought to be registered by qualification are to be sold for the account of the issuer, and not by underwriters who have or at the time of offering shall have purchased such securities from the issuer, the Commission may require that the proceeds from the sale of such securities be delivered in escrow to some satisfactory depository until all or a reasonable portion of the total securities originally proposed to be offered and sold shall have been sold and paid for.

For the purposes of this section, such securities shall be deemed to have been sold and paid for at such time as the subscribers therefor deliver to, or for the benefit of, the issuer, an amount equal to the purchase price specified for such securities either in cash, a draft, check or note (other than any such instrument which is drawn without recourse) or any combination thereof.

1956, c. 428; 1982, c. 362; 1983, c. 517; 1984, c. 771; 1993, c. 180.

A registration statement filed under this article may be filed by the issuer, any other person on whose behalf the offer is to be made or by any registered broker-dealer. When securities are registered, they may be offered and sold by the issuer, by such other person or by any registered broker-dealer, whether or not named in the registration statement. Every registration statement shall remain effective until revoked by the Commission or until terminated upon request of the registrant with the consent of the Commission. So long as a registration statement remains effective, all outstanding securities of the same class shall be considered to be registered for the purpose of any nonissuer distribution. So long as the registration statement remains effective, the Commission may require the registrant to file reports, not more often than quarterly, to keep reasonably current the information contained in the registration statement. The Commission may require such information to be included in the prospectus.

1956, c. 428; 1991, c. 223; 2003, c. 595.

Repealed by Acts 2003, c. 595.

(a) The Commission may issue a stop order denying effectiveness to, or revoking the effectiveness of, any registration statement if it finds that such an order is in the public interest and that:

(1) The registration statement together with any amendments, or any report filed by the registrant or any other document filed in connection with the registration statement contained any statement which was, at the time and in the circumstances in which it was made, false or misleading with respect to any material fact or omitted to state any material fact required to be stated therein;

(2) The applicant or registrant or any agent, partner, officer or director of the applicant or registrant (or any person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions) or any person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by the applicant or registrant has violated, in connection with the offering, any provision of this chapter or of any other law applicable to the offering, or any rule, order or condition lawfully imposed under this chapter;

(3) Any person specified in subdivision (2) of this subsection has failed to furnish any information lawfully requested by the Commission;

(4) The right to sell the securities which are the subject of the registration statement has been denied or revoked or is suspended under any federal act applicable to the offering (and such denial, revocation or suspension is still in effect);

(5) The issuer is insolvent, either in the sense that its liabilities exceed its assets or in the sense that it cannot meet its obligations as they mature;

(6) The issuer's business includes or probably will include activities which are forbidden by law;

(7) The offering has worked or tended to work a fraud upon investors or probably will so operate; or

(8) Where a security is to be or has been registered by notification, it is not eligible for such registration.

(b) No stop order shall be entered without reasonable notice to the applicant or registrant.

(c) In any proceeding under this section, the Commission may refrain from issuing or, after issuing, may revoke a stop order on condition that the persons against whom it is directed correct the matters complained of on which it is based.

1956, c. 428; 1960, c. 71.