# Official references and applicability limits Andrew David W.Y. · T04 exercise material 04 Checked: 19 October 2026. This table supports checking the institutional distinctions listed here. Selected US official materials are not a complete issuance, tax, cross-border or listing-law checklist. Recheck applicability when issuer status, business location, market, transaction structure or security type changes. Source publication/version dates differ from this review date. Older official educational materials support only the concepts they still establish, not a claim to cover all 2026 rules. Rule webpages, formal orders, educational materials and staff statements have different force and uses. ## Sources ### R01 | SEC: Going Public - Official source: [SEC: Going Public](https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/going-public) - Source date/version: Published 2024-06-21; last reviewed/updated 2024-09-03. - Used here: Registration/effectiveness of public offerings and entry point to public reporting duties. - Limits: Overview, not case-specific issuance permission or a complete filing checklist. ### R02 | SEC: Types of Registered Offerings - Official source: [SEC: Types of Registered Offerings](https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/capital-raising-building-blocks/types-registered-offerings) - Source date/version: Published 2024-06-12; last reviewed/updated 2026-04-24. - Used here: Conceptual comparison of traditional IPOs, SPACs and direct listings. - Limits: General introduction; no conclusions on path speed, funding certainty or every exchange detail. ### R03 | NYSE: Choose Your Path to Public - Official source: [NYSE: Choose Your Path to Public](https://www.nyse.com/direct-listings) - Source date/version: No single update date shown on the webpage. - Used here: NYSE direct listings may include raising new capital simultaneously. - Limits: Only the financing-option fact is used, not promotional outcome claims; do not apply NYSE details to other venues. ### R04 | FINRA: No, FINRA Did Not Approve That Security for Trading - Official source: [FINRA: No, FINRA Did Not Approve That Security for Trading](https://syndication.finra.org/content/no-finra-did-not-approve-security-trading) - Source date/version: Official educational material dated September 2020 on the site. - Used here: Quotation procedures differ from regulatory endorsement of quality; OTC quotation differs from exchange listing; quotes do not guarantee trades. - Limits: Not an operating manual for every current Form 211 procedure or exemption. ### R05 | Nasdaq Rule 5110(c): Reverse Mergers - Official source: [Nasdaq Rule 5110(c): Reverse Mergers](https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/Nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq-5100-Series/5110/EQUALS/) - Source date/version: Rule webpage; section 5110(c) and its exceptions reviewed. - Used here: Additional initial-listing conditions apply to covered reverse-merger companies, with specified exceptions. - Limits: No universal waiting period or automatic uplisting conclusion; other listing/issuer-specific conditions require separate review. ### R06 | OTCQB Rules V6.1 - Official source: [OTCQB Rules V6.1](https://www.otcmarkets.com/files/OTCQB_Rules.pdf) - Source date/version: V6.1, 2026-09-17. - Used here: Section 1 initial requirements; section 2 ongoing requirements; 2.1(M) control-change notification/reapplication; 2.2 ongoing disclosure. - Limits: Application varies by reporting status/facts. This material does not extract prices, holder counts, fees or deadlines as universal thresholds. ### R07 | SEC: Exchange Act Reporting and Registration - Official source: [SEC: Exchange Act Reporting and Registration](https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/going-public/exchange-act-reporting-registration) - Source date/version: Published 2024-06-20; last reviewed/updated 2025-09-22. - Used here: Basic distinctions among 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K under US domestic reporting. - Limits: Not directly applicable to all foreign issuers or all OTC companies. ### R08 | SEC: Form 20-F; Form 6-K - Official source: [SEC: Form 20-F; Form 6-K](https://www.sec.gov/files/form20-f.pdf); [Companion official document](https://www.sec.gov/files/form6-k.pdf) - Source date/version: Forms marked 07-24 and 02-25 respectively. - Used here: Annual reporting and Form 6-K information furnished by foreign private issuers using these forms. - Limits: Identify issuer/reporting status first. Form 6-K does not impose 8-K-style items/deadlines on every material event; venues may impose further ongoing requirements. ### R09 | SEC: Selective Disclosure and Insider Trading - Official source: [SEC: Selective Disclosure and Insider Trading](https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/2000/08/selective-disclosure-insider-trading) - Source date/version: 2000 final rule; section II.B.5 reviewed. - Used here: Regulation FD generally excludes foreign private issuers while anti-fraud and relevant self-regulatory obligations remain. - Limits: Historical basis for a particular rule, not a compilation of all 2026 disclosure rules; other historical exemptions are not developed here. ### R10 | SEC: Rule 144—Selling Restricted and Control Securities - Official source: [SEC: Rule 144—Selling Restricted and Control Securities](https://www.sec.gov/reports/rule-144-selling-restricted-control-securities); [Companion official document](https://www.sec.gov/files/rules144-145-secg.htm) - Source date/version: Main explanation published 2013-01-15, updated 2013-01-16; companion small-entity guide dated 2017-07-14. - Used here: Holding period is not the sole condition; check restricted securities, control securities and shell history separately. - Limits: Rule 144 is a nonexclusive safe harbor; applicability/exceptions require case-specific confirmation, not a universal release countdown. ### R11 | SEC staff: Statement on Tokenized Securities - Official source: [SEC staff: Statement on Tokenized Securities](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/corp-fin-statement-tokenized-securities-012826-statement-tokenized-securities) - Source date/version: 2026-01-28. - Used here: Separately identify rights under digital form and different issuer/third-party arrangements. - Limits: Staff statement explicitly without independent legal force; not a new SEC rule or case-specific permission. ### R12 | SEC Order 34-106402 and official news - Official source: [SEC Order 34-106402 and official news](https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/exorders/2026/34-106402.pdf); [Companion official document](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026-90-sec-issues-innovation-exemption-facilitate-trading-tokenized-nms-stock-request-comment) - Source date/version: 2026-09-17. - Used here: Temporary conditional exemptions for particular trading venues and certain liquidity providers involving tokenized NMS stocks. - Limits: Not general primary-issuance authorization; does not automatically cover OTCQB shares or guarantee round-the-clock trading, prices or liquidity. ## Applying sources to a particular assessment 1. Establish issuer, security, holder, transaction and venue before locating requirements. 2. Check definitions, conditions, exceptions, ongoing duties and updates, not one isolated threshold. 3. Record source, location, version, checker and date; retain uncovered questions. 4. Responsible people/professionals check case-specific judgments; internal learning tables cannot replace regulator/venue decisions. 5. Recheck after new rules, status, structure or material facts; do not reuse an undated screenshot. ## Judgments not made here No company's market suitability, complete offering-exemption choice, cross-border filing conclusion, financing valuation, fee quote, closing date, resale-release date or price outcome is determined. Some specific thresholds/deadlines are deliberately omitted from the article to avoid a context-free universal checklist. The four-stage framework, ledger, review diagrams and exercises are teaching designs. Official sources support the listed institutional distinctions, not empirical effectiveness of the entire method.