Registration statement, or Form S-1

For IPOs in the US, the S-1, also known as a registration statement, must by law include any material information about the company. This is so potential investors can understand what the company does, why it is issuing shares through an IPO, the state of the company's finances - including revenue, profit and debt -and what type of ownership structure is being offered. This document must be filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before a company can list shares for sale on the US share markets. There are other ‘S’ versions as well, depending on the type of company going public. In other countries, this might be called a prospectus. The company must provide financial statements as part of these documents.