Shareholders, creditors, company directors, the general public (usually with the most restrictions), or any governing person (such as a chief executive officer or corporate secretary) in a corporation can generally inspect company information, but depending on which party it is, they may only have access to certain documents and only in certain circumstances. It is important to note that US public companies must file quarterly reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and those filed reports are available to both shareholders and the market (i.e. the general public). A private company does not have to make its financial statements available to the public. However, the public has a right to know who is behind any given corporation so private corporations are obliged to make the following minimum information available to the public:
Notice of directors
Notice of change of a director
Securities register (a record of the ownership, equities and interests in a corporation, including shares of stock, bank bonds, options and warrants together with details of the ownership of those securities)