2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 30. Trade and Commerce › Chapter 10. Securities Regulation › Part 1. General Application › 30-10-104. Exempt securities

30-10-104. Exempt securities.
Sections 30-10-202 through 30-10-207 and 30-10-211 do not apply to any of the following securities:
(1) any security, including a revenue obligation, issued or guaranteed by the United States, any state, any political subdivision of a state, or any agency or corporate or other instrumentality of one or more of those entities. However, 30-10-202 through 30-10-207 and 30-10-211 apply to a security issued by any of those entities that is payable solely from payments to be received in respect to property or money used under a lease, sale, or loan arrangement by or for a nongovernmental industrial or commercial enterprise unless the enterprise or any security of which it is the issuer is within any of the exemptions listed in subsections (2) through (15).
(2) any security issued or guaranteed by Canada, a Canadian province, a political subdivision of a province, or an agency or corporate or other instrumentality of one or more of those entities or any other foreign government with which the United States currently maintains diplomatic relations if the security is recognized as a valid obligation by the issuer or guarantor;
(3) any security issued by and representing an interest in or a debt of or guaranteed by a bank organized under the laws of the United States or a bank, savings institution, or trust company organized and supervised under the laws of any state;
(4) any security issued by and representing an interest in, or a debt of, or guaranteed by a federal savings and loan association or a building and loan or similar association organized under the laws of any state and authorized to do business in this state;
(5) any security issued or guaranteed by a federal credit union or a credit union, industrial loan association, or similar association organized and supervised under the laws of this state;
(6) any security issued or guaranteed by a railroad, other common carrier, public utility, or holding company that is:
(a) subject to the jurisdiction of the federal surface transportation board;
(b) a registered holding company under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 or a subsidiary of a registered holding company within the meaning of that act;
(c) regulated in respect of its rates and charges by a governmental authority of the United States or any state or municipality; or
(d) regulated in respect to the issuance or guarantee of the security by a governmental authority of the United States, any state, Canada, or any Canadian province. A security referred to under this subsection (6)(d) includes equipment trust certificates in respect to equipment conditionally sold or leased to a railroad or public utility if other securities issued by the railroad or public utility would be exempt under this subsection (6)(d).
(7) any security that meets all of the following conditions:
(a) if the issuer is not organized under the laws of the United States or a state, it has appointed an authorized agent in the United States for service of process and has set forth the name and address of the agent in its prospectus;
(b) a class of the issuer's securities is required to be and is registered under section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and has been registered for the 3 years immediately preceding the offering date;
(c) the issuer or a significant subsidiary has not had a material default during the last 7 years, or during the issuer's existence if that period is less than 7 years, in the payment of:
(i) principal, interest, dividend, or sinking fund installment on preferred stock or indebtedness for borrowed money; or
(ii) rentals under leases with terms of 3 years or more;
(d) the issuer has had consolidated net income, before extraordinary items and the cumulative effect of accounting changes, of at least $1 million in 4 of its last 5 fiscal years, including its last fiscal year, and if the offering is of interest-bearing securities, has had for its last fiscal year consolidated net income, before deduction for income taxes and depreciation, of at least 1 1/2 times the issuer's annual interest expense, giving effect to the proposed offering and the intended use of the proceeds. "Last fiscal year", as used in this subsection (7)(d), means the most recent year for which audited financial statements are available provided that the statements cover a fiscal period that ended not more than 15 months from the commencement of the offering.
(e) if the offering is of stock or shares, other than preferred stock or shares, the securities have voting rights and rights including the right to have at least as many votes per share and the right to vote on at least as many general corporate decisions as each of the issuer's outstanding classes of stock or shares except as otherwise required by law;
(f) if the offering is of stock or shares, other than preferred stock or shares, the securities are owned beneficially or of record on any date within 6 months prior to the commencement of the offering by at least 1,200 persons and on that date there are at least 750,000 of the shares outstanding with an aggregate market value, based on the average bid price for that day, of at least $3,750,000. In connection with the determination of the number of persons who are beneficial owners of the stock or shares of an issuer, the issuer or broker-dealer may rely in good faith for the purposes of this section upon written information furnished by the record owners.
(8) any security issued by a person organized and operated not for private profit but exclusively for religious, educational, benevolent, charitable, fraternal, social, athletic, or reformatory purposes if the issuer pays a fee of $50 and files with the commissioner 20 days prior to the offering a written notice specifying the terms of the offer and the commissioner does not disallow the exemption in writing within the 20-day period;
(9) any commercial paper that arises out of a current transaction or the proceeds of which have been or are to be used for the current transaction and that evidences an obligation to pay cash within 9 months of the date of issuance, exclusive of days of grace, or any renewal of the paper that is likewise limited or any guarantee of the paper or of any renewal when the commercial paper is sold to banks or insurance companies;
(10) any investment contract issued in connection with an employee's stock purchase, savings, pension, profit-sharing, or similar benefit plan;
(11) any security for which the commissioner determines by order that an exemption would better serve the purposes of 30-10-102 than would registration. The fee for this exemption must be as prescribed in 30-10-209(4).
(12) any security listed or approved for listing upon notice of issuance on the New York stock exchange, the American stock exchange, the Pacific stock exchange, the Midwest stock exchange, the Chicago board of options exchange, the Philadelphia stock exchange, the Boston stock exchange, or any other stock exchange registered with the federal securities and exchange commission and approved by the commissioner, any other security of the same issuer that is of senior or substantially equal rank, any security called for by subscription rights or warrants listed or approved for listing as provided in this subsection, or any warrant or right to purchase or subscribe to any of the securities listed in this subsection. The commissioner may by rule or order limit, restrict, or otherwise condition the terms under which any security may be exempt under this subsection.
(13) any national market system security listed or approved for listing upon notice of issuance on the national association of securities dealers automated quotation system or any other national quotation system approved by the commissioner, any other security of the same issuer that is of senior or substantially equal rank, any security called for by subscription rights or warrants listed or approved for listing as provided in this subsection, or any warrant or right to purchase or subscribe to any of the securities listed in this subsection. The commissioner may by rule or order limit, restrict, or otherwise condition the terms under which any security may be exempt under this subsection.
(14) any security issued by and representing an interest in, or a debt of, or any security guaranteed by any insurer organized and authorized to transact business under the laws of any state;
(15) any security for which an offer or sale is not directed to or received by a person in this state when the issuer does not maintain a place of business in the state.
History: En. Sec. 13, Ch. 251, L. 1961; R.C.M. 1947, 15-2013; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 351, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 322, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 478, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 272, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 249, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 228, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 533, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 472, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 18, Ch. 19, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 151, L. 2017.