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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 i-Deal Prospectus. For a more complete list of prospectuses for
taxable bonds and equity offerings, we recommend
EDGAR Online 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 happened to Thomson Prospectus?
Thomson Prospectus is now i-Deal Prospectus, a division of i-Deal.
Click here
to read more about the acquisition.
What is i-Deal Prospectus?
i-Deal 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,
i-Deal Prospectus has become the industry standard for electronic prospectus
delivery. By printing copies only when required or requested, i-Deal
Prospectus can dramatically cut printing and delivery costs for prospectuses.
Why should I use i-Deal Prospectus?
There are a number of reasons to use i-Deal 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 i-Deal Prospectus work?
Cost savings are maximized when i-Deal 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.
i-Deal 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 i-Deal with investor list.
2) i-Deal obtains email addresses for most investors by matching against its proprietary contact database.
3) i-Deal obtains remaining email addresses by contacting investors directly via phone.
4) Issuer sends financial statements to i-Deal in paper format (or electronic format if available.)
5) i-Deal scans financial statements and converts to PDF format.
6) Bond counsel sends certain appendixes to i-Deal via email when finalized.
7) Underwriter's counsel sends remaining sections of POS to i-Deal via email when finalized.
8) i-Deal assembles document and converts to a single PDF file.
9) i-Deal 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 i-Deal 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, i-Deal 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.
i-Deal 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) 404-8104 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." If you're using Netscape,
click "Edit", then "Preferences",
then "+" next to Advanced, then "Cache",
then "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk
Cache."
3) If you have an older version of Internet Explorer or Netscape,
you should upgrade. Click
here to download
the latest version of Internet Explorer. Click
here
to download the latest version of Netscape.
4) As always, please call us at (212) 404-8104 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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