A prospectus is a formal document submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) by a company that wishes to market a debt or equity offering to the market. Companies that wish to conduct a stock or bond sale on the market thus must file a prospectus to be submitted to the SEC that provides complete details of the investment offering.
Prospectuses typically include a brief summary of the firm’s background and financial performance, number of shares being offered, types of securities being offered and names of banks and/or financial institutions underwriting the offering.