Securities Act Rule 415

Under Rule 415(a)(5), registration statements relating to continuous or delayed offerings that rely on Rule 415(a)(1)(vii), (ix) or (x) may not be used for offers or sales once the registration statements are more than three years old. Rules 415(a)(5) and (6) provide a mechanism to replace expiring registration statements. Because November 28, 2008 will be the first date by which issuers will be required to update and consolidate their registration statements in accordance with Rule 415(a)(5), we have received numerous questions from issuers subject to the rule. We are issuing this guidance today to help issuers file replacement registration statements and understand how Rule 415(a)(5) and (6) work with regard to continued offerings of previously registered securities, the inclusion of such securities on a replacement registration statement, and the use of previously paid fees to offset new fee obligations.

1) Question: When does the three-year period specified in Rule 415(a)(5) expire?

Answer: The three-year period in Rule 415(a)(5) begins on the initial effective date of the registration statement, except that for registration statements effective before December 1, 2005, the three-year period begins on December 1, 2005 and ends on November 30, 2008. After November 30, 2008 an issuer may use a registration statement that was effective on or before December 1, 2005 to offer and sell securities only to the extent permitted by the grace period provisions of Rule 415(a)(5).

2) Question: For a registration statement that was effective on or before December 1, 2005, when must the replacement registration statement be filed?

Answer: A replacement registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) must be filed on or before the expiration date of the expiring registration statement. EDGAR does not accept new registration statements for filing on Saturdays or Sundays. Therefore, with respect to registration statements effective on or before December 1, 2005, any replacement registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) must be filed no later than Friday, November 28, 2008.

3) Question: How can an issuer include securities that remain unsold on the expiring registration statement as registered securities on to the replacement registration statement, and when should the issuer include such unsold securities on the replacement registration statement?

Answer: Rule 415(a)(6) provides that an issuer may include on its replacement registration statement any unsold securities covered by the expiring registration statement by identifying on the facing page of the replacement registration statement, or a pre-effective amendment thereto, the amount of the unsold securities being included on the replacement registration statement and any filing fee paid in connection with the unsold securities, which will continue to be applied to such unsold securities. The issuer should include the file number of the expiring registration statement as part of this disclosure. The issuer is not required to pay any additional fee with respect to such securities included in reliance on Rule 415(a)(6), because the unsold securities (and associated fees) are being moved from the expiring registration statement to the replacement registration statement. A filing fee is required, however, for any new securities registered on the replacement registration statement.

An issuer may only rely on Rule 415(a)(6) to include on a new replacement registration statement securities that remain unsold on an expiring registration statement. For example, if the expiring registration statement had a remaining capacity of $1 million of common stock, Rule 415(a)(6) permits the issuer to include on the replacement registration statement $1 million of common stock. Rule 415(a)(6) does not, however, permit the issuer instead to include on the replacement registration statement $1 million in preferred stock.

The inclusion of unsold securities on the replacement registration statement has EDGAR filing implications. When completing the EDGAR header tags for a replacement registration statement, or any pre-effective amendment thereto, that is not an automatic shelf registration statement, the filer will be required to specify a “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price.” This EDGAR header tag should include only newly-registered securities for which a fee will be payable at the time of filing the replacement registration statement.

Except as noted below, the amount of unsold securities that are being included on the replacement registration statement pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) should not be included as part of the “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price” EDGAR header tag. If the issuer opts not to register any new securities and the replacement registration statement therefore will cover only securities included from the expiring registration statement pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6), the filer should enter “$1” in the “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price” EDGAR header tag. The filer should enter “$0” as the fee paid. This is necessary because the EDGAR system will not accept a Securities Act registration statement (other than an automatic shelf registration statement using the “pay as you go” fee provisions of Rule 456(b)) unless a “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price” is specified in the EDGAR header tag. The $1 amount will not result in a fee assessment by the EDGAR system and will allow the acceptance of the replacement registration statement without the filing being blocked.

4) Question: How does an issuer reflect in the replacement registration statement any sales from the expiring registration statement completed during the grace period in Rule 415(a)(5)?

Answer: Rule 415(a)(5) provides that if an issuer has filed a replacement registration statement pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) that is not an automatic shelf registration statement, the issuer may continue to offer and sell securities covered by the expiring registration statement until the earlier of the effective date of the replacement registration statement or 180 days after the third anniversary of the initial effective date of the expiring registration statement. A continuous offering of securities covered by the expiring registration statement that commenced within three years of the initial effective date may continue until the effective date of the replacement registration statement if such offering is permitted under the replacement registration statement. Any Commission filings, such as prospectus supplements or free-writing prospectuses, related to offerings during the grace period should reflect the expiring registration statement file number. To reflect sales completed during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period, the issuer should pre-effectively amend the replacement registration statement so that, at effectiveness, the registration statement correctly specifies on the bottom of the facing page the amount of securities that will actually be included in reliance on Rule 415(a)(6).

5) Question: How can an issuer use the filing fee offsets under Rule 457(p) as it transitions from the expiring registration statement to the replacement registration statement, and how would that differ from including unsold securities on the replacement registration statement in reliance on Rule 415(a)(6)?

Answer: If an issuer uses Rule 415(a)(6) to include securities on a replacement registration statement, the offering of securities on the expiring registration statement will not be deemed terminated until the replacement registration statement is effective. As a result, any securities that are identified in the replacement registration statement as included pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) may still be offered and sold from the expiring registration statement during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period prior to effectiveness of the new registration statement.

If, instead of including unsold securities from the expiring registration statement, an issuer determines to rely on the provisions of Rule 457(p) to offset fees owed upon the initial filing of, or any pre-effective amendment to, the replacement registration statement relating to the registration of new securities, the related securities from the expiring registration statement are immediately deemed deregistered upon the filing of the replacement registration statement (or any pre-effective amendment registering the new securities). These deregistered securities may not be offered or sold during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period off the expiring registration statement or included as unsold securities on the new registration statement in reliance on Rule 415(a)(6).

With respect to securities registered on an expiring registration statement, an issuer may choose to include a portion of the previously-registered unsold securities under Rule 415(a)(6) and, if the conditions of Rule 457(p) are satisfied, use the fees already paid attributable to the balance of the securities registered on the expiring registration statement as an offset against any new fees due in respect of newly-registered securities on the replacement registration statement. The cover page of the registration statement should clearly explain the amount of securities included (or the potential that they may be included) pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6), the amount of fees offset pursuant to Rule 457(p), and identify the related registration statements. The specific amounts of unsold securities that may be included do not need to be identified in the initial filing and may be included in a pre-effective amendment to the replacement registration statement (such as just before effectiveness of the replacement registration statement).

For example: under Rule 415(a)(6), an issuer files a new registration statement to replace a shelf registration statement that went effective November 1, 2005 and relates to a $2 million continuous offering of debt and $8 million in common stock to be offered on a delayed basis. The replacement registration statement reflects on the cover page the expiring registration statement and states that the issuer will identify in a pre-effective amendment the securities included in the replacement registration statement pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) and the amount of any new securities to be registered. If the replacement registration statement does not include, at that time, any new securities being registered, the issuer would reflect in the “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price” EDGAR header tag an amount of $1 and a fee paid of $0.

Prior to the effectiveness of the replacement registration statement, the issuer then sells $1 million of debt and $2 million of common stock, using the expiring registration statement pursuant to Rule 415(a)(5). When the issuer is ready to request effectiveness of the replacement registration statement, it would then file a pre-effective amendment to reflect that the new registration statement is including the unsold securities from the expiring registration statement in the amounts of $1 million of debt and $6 million in common stock pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6). If the issuer does not register new securities in the pre-effective amendment, it will not need to record any “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price” in the EDGAR header tag.

Alternatively, instead of including the unsold securities from the expiring registration statement, the issuer may elect to use Rule 457(p) to utilize the fees relating to all or a portion of the unsold shares on the expiring registration statement as a fee offset. In that case, if the conditions of Rule 457(p) are satisfied, the issuer may offset fees previously paid in connection with all or a portion of the $1 million of debt and $6 million of common stock that remain unsold on the expiring registration statement against the fees due for any securities newly registered on the pre-effective amendment. The shares covered by the fees used as offsets would be deemed deregistered from the expiring registration statement and could not be offered or sold during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period. The EDGAR header for the pre-effective amendment would reflect as the “Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price” the amount of securities to be included on the replacement registration statement other than those securities included in reliance on Rule 415(a)(6). The issuer would also need to complete the fee offset header tags in EDGAR to reflect the fee offset claimed pursuant to Rule 457(p).

6) Question: If an issuer is no longer a well-known seasoned issuer at the time it files a replacement registration statement pursuant to Rule 415(a)(5), can the issuer continue to use its expiring automatic shelf registration statement for offers and sales during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period?

Answer: Yes. An issuer that must file a replacement registration statement to an expiring Form S-3ASR on Form S-3 due to the issuer not satisfying the definition of well-known seasoned issuer at the time the new Form S-3 is filed may continue to use its expiring automatic shelf for offers and sales during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period. A registration statement filed solely for purposes of complying with Rule 415(a)(5) will not be considered a reassessment of the issuer’s status as a well-known seasoned issuer for purposes of any outstanding Form S-3ASR or the Securities Act exemptions available to a well-known seasoned issuer.

7) Question: If during the Rule 415(a)(5) grace period an issuer that is no longer a well-known seasoned issuer files a Form 10-K that acts as a Section 10(a)(3) update to its Form S-3ASR, may the issuer continue to use the Form S-3ASR for the remainder of the grace period?

Answer: The issuer’s status as a well-known seasoned issuer and its continued eligibility to use its expiring Form S-3ASR will be re-measured at the time of the filing of a Form 10-K that acts as a Section 10(a)(3) update to the Form S-3ASR registration statement. If the issuer is not a well-known seasoned issuer at the time of the Section 10(a)(3) amendment to its expiring Form S-3ASR, the issuer may no longer use the Form S-3ASR until it post-effectively amends the Form S-3ASR to a form that the issuer is then eligible to use.

A Form S-3ASR that utilizes the “pay-as-you-go” fee provisions of Rule 456(b) may not be converted to another form via a post-effective amendment because fees cannot be paid to register securities via a post-effective amendment on any form other than an automatic shelf registration statement. Consequently, registrants intending to convert a Form S-3ASR, in which payment of fees has been deferred pursuant to Rule 456(b), to another form, such as a Form S-3, should file an automatically effective post-effective amendment to the Form S-3ASR prior to the filing of the Form 10-K to pay a fee for securities it intends to offer and sell upon subsequent conversion to the new form. The filing of an automatically effective post-effective amendment for these purposes does not require a re-measurement of form eligibility as provided in Rule 401(c).