In February 2008, the SEC adopted amendments to Form D, requiring that electronic filing of Form D be phased in during the period September 15, 2008 to March 16, 2009. Although as amended, the electronic Form D requires much of the same information as the paper Form D, the amended Form D requires disclosure of the date of first sale in the offering. Previously, the first date of sale was not required. The Office of Small Business Policy has posted information on its web page about the filing requirements for the new Form D.
§ 230.802 Exemption for offerings in connection with an exchange offer or business combination for the securities of foreign private issuers.
Offers and sales in any exchange offer for a class of securities of a foreign private issuer, or in any exchange of securities for the securities of a foreign private issuer in any business combination, are exempt from the provisions of section 5 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 77e), if they satisfy the following conditions:
(a) Conditions to be met. —(1) Limitation on U.S. ownership. Except in the case of an exchange offer or business combination that is commenced during the pendency of a prior exchange offer or business combination made in reliance on this paragraph, U.S. holders of the foreign subject company must hold no more than 10 percent of the securities that are the subject of the exchange offer or business combination (as determined under the definition of “U.S. holder” in §230.800(h)). In the case of a business combination in which the securities are to be issued by a successor registrant, U.S. holders may hold no more than 10 percent of the class of securities of the successor registrant, as if measured immediately after completion of the business combination.
(2) Equal treatment . The offeror must permit U.S. holders to participate in the exchange offer or business combination on terms at least as favorable as those offered any other holder of the subject securities. The offeror, however, need not extend the offer to security holders in those states or jurisdictions that require registration or qualification, except that the offeror must offer the same cash alternative to security holders in any such state that it has offered to security holders in any other state or jurisdiction.
(3) Informational documents . (i) If the offeror publishes or otherwise disseminates an informational document to the holders of the subject securities in connection with the exchange offer or business combination, the offeror must furnish that informational document, including any amendments thereto, in English, to the Commission on Form CB (§239.800 of this chapter) by the first business day after publication or dissemination. If the offeror is a foreign company, it must also file a Form F–X (§239.42 of this chapter) with the Commission at the same time as the submission of the Form CB to appoint an agent for service of process in the United States.
(ii) The offeror must disseminate any informational document to U.S. holders, including any amendments thereto, in English, on a comparable basis to that provided to security holders in the foreign subject company's home jurisdiction.
(iii) If the offeror disseminates by publication in its home jurisdiction, the offeror must publish the information in the United States in a manner reasonably calculated to inform U.S. holders of the offer.
(b) Legends. The following legend or an equivalent statement in clear, plain language, to the extent applicable, must be included on the cover page or other prominent portion of any informational document the offeror publishes or disseminates to U.S. holders.