General
Questions
What is a prospectus?
What is the difference between a preliminary and final
prospectus?
What is required to view a prospectus?
I'm looking for a specific prospectus. Why can't I find it?
What do the various document abbreviations mean?
Service-Related Questions
What is Ipreo i-Prospectus?
Why should I use Ipreo i-Prospectus?
How does Ipreo i-Prospectus work?
What are the SEC requirements regarding prospectus delivery?
Should we send paper copies, electronic copies, or both?
Troubleshooting
I can't view a prospectus.
Printing a prospectus is slow.
GENERAL
QUESTIONS
What is a prospectus?
A prospectus is a document that describes the terms and
conditions of a particular securities offering. There are 3 general types of
securities offerings: municipal bonds, taxable bonds, and equity offerings.
What is the difference between a preliminary
and final prospectus?
A preliminary prospectus is made available to potential
investors before a securities offering is priced, or finalized. This document
typically contains preliminary pricing information and is also referred to as a
Red Herring due to the red disclaimer language that appears sideways on the
cover. A final prospectus is made available to investors after a securities
offering is priced, or finalized. This document contains final pricing
information and is also referred to as a Black due to the lack of red
disclaimer language on the cover. For municipal bond offerings, the prospectus
is known as the Official Statement or OS. For certain securities offerings, the
prospectus may be called an Offering Memorandum or Private Placement
Memorandum.
What is required to view a prospectus?
Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to download, view and print
prospectuses. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, click here to download this
software for free, including installation instructions.
I'm looking for a specific prospectus. Why
can't I find it?
The only prospectuses available on our website are those
produced by Ipreo i-Prospectus. For a more complete list of prospectuses for
taxable bonds and equity offerings, we recommend Ipreo
ProspectusDirect. For a more complete list of official statements for
municipal bond offerings, we recommend
MuniStatements.com
What do the various document abbreviations
mean?
Following are the most common document abbreviations used on
our website:
Prelim - Preliminary Prospectus
Final - Final Prospectus
NOS - Notice of Sale
Rmktg - Remarketing Circular
Bid - Bid Form
Fincl - Financial Statements
SERVICE-RELATED QUESTIONS
What is Ipreo i-Prospectus?
Ipreo i-Prospectus produces and delivers electronic and
printed copies of prospectuses for securities offerings. Since the SEC
authorized electronic delivery of prospectuses as a replacement to delivering
printed copies, Ipreo i-Prospectus has become the industry standard for
electronic prospectus delivery. By printing copies only when required or
requested, Ipreo i-Prospectus can dramatically cut printing and delivery costs
for prospectuses.
Why should I use Ipreo i-Prospectus?
There are a number of reasons to use Ipreo i-Prospectus -
we've included a few most commonly cited by our clients. Institutional
investors get access to a prospectus within hours of its release by legal
counsel. By reducing the turnaround time for prospectuses, many underwriters
have been able to price bond offerings a day sooner than they would have with a
traditional financial printer. Our proprietary electronic prospectus delivery
platform will tell you who accesses each prospectus in real-time. More and more
institutional investors prefer electronic prospectuses over paper copies. If
your offering includes a roadshow, we can include a link to the roadshow along
with the preliminary prospectus. As part of our service, we'll get email
addresses for your institutional clients if you don't have them. We'll even
take care of the printing - our professionally printed copies are perfect bound
with color covers. No one will know you're using a vendor - delivery can be
customized to promote the underwriter or issuer. Best of all, your issuer will
realize significant cost savings over a traditional financial printer.
How does Ipreo i-Prospectus work?
Cost savings are maximized when Ipreo i-Prospectus takes the
place of your traditional financial printer. If you prefer to use a traditional
financial printer, we will work with your printer to ensure timeliness. Ipreo
i-Prospectus has relationships with all of the major financial printers.
Following is the process for a Preliminary Official Statement for a typical
municipal bond negotiated offering:
1) Underwriter provides Ipreo with investor list.
2) Ipreo obtains email addresses for most investors by matching against its
proprietary contact database.
3) Ipreo obtains remaining email addresses by contacting investors directly
via phone.
4) Issuer sends financial statements to Ipreo in paper format (or electronic
format if available.)
5) Ipreo scans financial statements and converts to PDF format.
6) Bond counsel sends certain appendixes to Ipreo via email when finalized.
7) Underwriter's counsel sends remaining sections of POS to Ipreo via email
when finalized.
8) Ipreo assembles document and converts to a single PDF file.
9) Ipreo sends POS via email to review group for approval.
10) Upon approval, POS is sent via email to the investor list.
11) Underwriter can now access the investor feedback report for investor
download information.
12) POS is posted on Ipreo i-Prospectus' website.
13) Any paper copies are printed and sent within 24 hours.
What are the SEC requirements regarding
prospectus delivery?
The final prospectus is subject to the SEC delivery
requirement. That is, a copy of the final prospectus must be delivered to each
investor of a securities offering. The preliminary prospectus is NOT subject to
the SEC delivery requirement except that a copy of the preliminary prospectus
must be delivered to any potential investor who requests a copy. In addition,
for offerings in which there is a roadshow, a copy of the preliminary
prospectus must be delivered to any roadshow attendee. The SEC delivery
requirement can be satisfied either (1) by sending a paper copy of the
prospectus or (2) by sending an electronic copy of the prospectus as long as
the recipient has consented to electronic delivery.
Should we send paper copies, electronic
copies, or both?
For most bond offerings, Ipreo i-Prospectus recommends sending
electronic copies of the preliminary prospectus as a replacement for the paper
copies. Maximum savings are realized by only sending paper copies of the
preliminary prospectus when requested by investors. Ipreo i-Prospectus further
recommends sending electronic copies of the final prospectus as a supplement to
the paper copies. This approach has been used on countless offerings and is
quickly becoming the standard for municipal bond offerings.
TROUBLESHOOTING
I can't view a prospectus.
Please try the following if you cannot view a prospectus:
1) If your version of Adobe Acrobat Reader is less than 5.0, you
need to upgrade. Click here to download the latest version for free, including
installation instructions. Feel free to call us at (212) 849-5024 if you
need help installing Adobe Acrobat.
2) If you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat, you may need
to clear the cache on your browser. If you're using Internet Explorer, click
"Tools", then "Settings", then "Delete Files."
3) If you have an older version of Internet Explorer , you should upgrade. Click
here to download the latest version of Internet Explorer.
4) As always, please call us at (212) 849-5024 if you need help or have
any questions. You may also reach us via email at os@i-Deal.com
Printing a prospectus is slow.
Print speed is largely dependent on your printer and the
amount of printer memory. However, some prospectuses contain graphic images at
high resolution. Your printer may automatically print these images at a
resolution that is higher than necessary. To reduce the resolution (and speed
up the printing), click on "Properties" in the Print dialog box and change the
"Printer Resolution" (or "Image Setting") to 300 dpi or less. The lower the
dpi, the faster these images will print.
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