§ 10-5-23. Registration by Qualification; Additional Information and Records Required; Effective Date

1. A security may be registered by qualification under this Code section.
2. A registration statement under this Code section must contain the information or records specified in Code Section 10-5-24, a consent to service of process complying with Code Section 10-5-80, and, if required by rule adopted under this chapter, the following information or records:
   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 and location of its business; 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 each director and officer of the issuer and other person having a similar status or performing similar functions, the person’s name, address, and principal occupation for the previous five years; the amount of securities of the issuer held by the person as of the thirtieth day before the filing of the registration statement; the amount of the securities covered by the registration statement to which the person has indicated an intention to subscribe; and a description of any material interest of the person in any material transaction with the issuer or a significant subsidiary effected within the previous three years or proposed to be effected;
   3. With respect to persons covered by paragraph (2) of this subsection, the aggregate sum of the remuneration paid to those persons during the previous 12 months and estimated to be paid during the next 12 months, directly or indirectly, by the issuer and all predecessors, parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates of the issuer;
   4. With respect to a person owning of record or owning beneficially, if known, 10 percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of equity security of the issuer, the information specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection other than the person’s occupation;
   5. With respect to a promoter, if the issuer was organized within the previous three years, the information or records specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection, any amount paid to the promoter within that period or intended to be paid to the promoter and the consideration for the payment;
   6. With respect to a person on whose behalf any part of the offering is to be made in a nonissuer distribution, the person’s name and address; the amount of securities of the issuer held by the person as of the date of the filing of the registration statement; a description of any material interest of the person in any material transaction with the issuer or any significant subsidiary effected within the previous three years or proposed to be effected; and a statement of the reasons for making the offering;
   7. The capitalization and long term debt, on both a current and pro forma basis, of the issuer and any significant subsidiary, including a description of each security outstanding or being registered or otherwise offered, and a statement of the amount and kind of consideration, whether in the form of cash, physical assets, services, patents, good will, or anything else of value, for which the issuer or any subsidiary has issued its securities within the previous two years or is obligated to issue 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 at which a proportion of the offering is to be made to a person or class of persons other than the underwriters, with a specification of the person or class; the basis on which the offering is to be made if otherwise than for cash; the estimated aggregate underwriting and selling discounts or commissions and finders’ fees, including separately cash, securities, contracts, or anything else of value to accrue to the underwriters or finders in connection with the offering or, if the selling 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 each underwriter and each recipient of a finder’s fee; a copy of any underwriting or selling group agreement under 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 that are to be offered otherwise than through an underwriter;
   9. The estimated monetary proceeds to be received by the issuer from the offering; the purposes for which the proceeds are to be used by the issuer; the estimated amount to be used for each purpose; the order or 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 the purposes stated; the sources of the funds; and, if a part of the proceeds is to be used to acquire property, including good will, otherwise than in the ordinary course of business, the names and addresses of the vendors, the purchase price, the names of any persons that have received commissions in connection with the acquisition, and the amounts of the commissions and other expenses in connection with the acquisition, including the cost of borrowing money to finance the acquisition;
   10. A description of any stock options or other security options outstanding or to be created in connection with the offering and the amount of those options held or to be held by each person required to be named in paragraph (2), (4), (5), (6), or (8) of this subsection and by any person that holds or will hold 10 percent or more in the aggregate of those options;
   11. The dates of, parties to, and general effect concisely stated of each managerial or other material contract made or to be made otherwise than in the ordinary course of business to be performed in whole or in part at or after the filing of the registration statement or that was made within the previous two years and a copy of the contract;
   12. A description of any pending litigation, action, or proceeding to which the issuer is a party and that materially affects its business or assets and any litigation, action, or proceeding known to be contemplated by governmental authorities;
   13. A copy of any prospectus, pamphlet, circular, form letter, advertisement, or other sales literature intended as of the effective date to be used in connection with the offering and any solicitation of interest used in compliance with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (17) of Code Section 10-5-11;
   14. A specimen or copy of the security being registered, unless the security is uncertificated; a copy of the issuer’s articles of incorporation and bylaws or their substantial equivalents, in effect; and a copy of any indenture or other instrument covering the security to be registered;
   15. A signed or conformed copy of an opinion of counsel concerning the legality of the security being registered, with an English translation if it is in a language other than English, which states whether the security when sold will be validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable and, if a debt security, a binding obligation of the issuer;
   16. A signed or conformed copy of a consent of any accountant, engineer, appraiser, or other person whose profession gives authority for a statement made by the person if the person is named as having prepared or certified a public report or valuation, other than an official record, which is used in connection with the registration statement;
   17. A balance sheet of the issuer as of a date within four months before the filing of the registration statement; a statement of income and changes in financial position for each of the three fiscal years preceding the date of the balance sheet and for any period between the close of the immediately previous 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 a business, the financial statements that would be required if that business were the registrant; and
   18. Any additional information or records required by rule adopted or order issued under this chapter.
3. A registration statement under this Code section becomes effective 30 days after the date the registration statement or the last amendment other than a price amendment is filed, unless any shorter period is provided by a rule adopted or order issued under this chapter, if:
   1. A stop order is not in effect and a proceeding is not pending under Code Section 10-5-25;
   2. The Commissioner has not issued an order under Code Section 10-5-25 delaying effectiveness; and
   3. The applicant or registrant has not requested that effectiveness be delayed.
4. The Commissioner may delay effectiveness once for not more than 90 days if the Commissioner determines the registration statement is not complete in all material respects and promptly notifies the applicant or registrant of that determination. The Commissioner may also delay effectiveness for a further period of not more than 30 days if the Commissioner determines that the delay is necessary or appropriate.
5. A rule adopted or order issued under this chapter may require as a condition of registration under this Code section that a prospectus containing a specified part of the information or record specified in subsection (b) of this Code section be sent or given to each person to which an offer is made before or concurrently with the earliest of:
   1. The first offer made in a record to the person, otherwise than by means of a public advertisement, by or for the account of the issuer or another person on whose behalf the offering is being made or by an underwriter or broker-dealer that is offering part of an unsold allotment or subscription taken by the person as a participant in the distribution;
   2. The confirmation of a sale made by or for the account of the person;
   3. Payment pursuant to such a sale; or
   4. Delivery of the security pursuant to such a sale.

History. Code 1981, § 10-5-23 , enacted by Ga. L. 2008, p. 381, § 1/SB 358.