What are Restricted Securities?
Restrictions on Vesting and the Ability to Transfer
Written by Jason Gordon
Updated at December 16th, 2020
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What are restricted securities?
Restricted securities, as the name implies, are subject to restrictions on when they can be sold or transferred following their issuance. Rule 144 of the 33 Act lays out the rules for restricted securities. It is also used to refer to securities that are subject to a vesting period.
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What are Holder Restrictions?
Restricted securities in public companies are those held by officers, directors, or major shareholders (10% of total shares). These individuals cannot sell a number of shares greater than 1) the average weekly trading volume for the shares during the prior 4 weeks of trading, or 2) a quantity equal to 1% of total shares outstanding.
What are Transactional Restrictions?
Securities issued pursuant to a transactional exemption are also restricted from immediate resale. Regulation D exemptions prohibit resale for 12 months following the date of the issuance. This is to make certain that an exemption is not used as a straw transaction to transfer shares to individuals who could not otherwise be investors under the applicable exemption.
Discussion: Why do you think the securities laws restrict the ability of certain insiders from selling a specific quantity of their shares? Is this fair to those shareholders? Why or why not? Why do you think the securities laws limit the transfer of shares issued in an exempted transaction?
Practice Question: Robert is a large shareholder and COO of ABC Corp, a publicly traded corporation. He acquired many of his shares when he joined ABC Corp, immediately prior to the company going public. He received the shares in an exempted transaction that did not require registration of the securities. He now believes that ABC Corp has plateaued in its share price and he wants to sell a large quantity of his shares on the open market. What limitations might Robert face in selling the shares?