Public Shareholders Act (R)

An Act

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Firestone in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. GENERAL PARAMETERS

(a) Any business or entity that has obtained a Standard or Special Business Permit in the State of Firestone which has been held for a minimum of 3 (three) months is entitled to publicise their business.

(b) Publicizing a business shall be defined as: “The restructuring of a business into a corporation or a co-operative business.”

(c) A licensed business entity must notify the Securities Exchange Commission and be approved before the business may be restructured into a co-operative or corporation and be publicized.

(d) All monetary actions must be done through Firestone State Dollars (FSD), no exceptions will be made.

(e) A publicized business may not offer more than 500 (five-hundred shares) to be sold and traded through the public, including the owner(s) of the respective business entity, there must be a stated limit of shares a person or entity can purchase.

(f) A business’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) price may not be higher than 1000 (one-thousand) FSD when their entity goes public.

(g) Any business entity that publicizes itself must be done through Firestone Forums which can be found here: https://forums.stateoffirestone.com/

(h) Basic information about the company and it’s stock must be included when a business entity goes public which includes; stock offering price, amount of shares being offered, possible share limits, link to business entity’s respective Discord and group, link to where stock records are kept and actively updated. Businesses must also keep a record of who owns what stock in their business.

(i) The Firestone Department of Commerce may implement policy in addition to this act so long as it is not in contradiction to statute.

SECTION 2. SECURITIES EXCHANGE COMMISSION

(a) The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) shall be a group of 4 members, with the Chair of the Commission being designated to the Department of Commerce Secretary. Though members of the SEC (excluding the Secretary aforementioned) shall maintain roles as independent regulators, only removable through the impeachment process detailed in the Constitution.

(b) The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) shall be an appointed position, which will be selected at the pleasure of the Governor every 4 (four) months and will be confirmed by the Firestone State Senate.

(c) Members of the board may be renewed each elected Gubernatorial term and will not need to be reconfirmed upon renewal.

(d) Members of the board are prohibited from engaging/participating in any stock exchange.

(e) The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) shall have the power to approve public companies, sanction public companies that violate this act (up to and including removal of their public status), regulate stocks pursuant to this act, and investigate violations of this act. Though any SEC investigation that finds possible evidence of criminal misconduct pursuant to this act shall be reported to the Attorney General or their designee, and they shall be brought in to handle the Department of Justice’s side of said investigation.

SECTION 3. CO-OPERATIVE (CO-OP) BUSINESSES

(a) A co-operative or (co-op) business shall be defined as: “A business that is jointly owned by its shareholders/members who use it’s services, but are not limited to using them.”

(b) Co-operative businesses must share monetary profits or benefits with it’s shareholders that actively hold more than 10% stock in a co-operative business.

(c) Benefits may include but are not limited to: discounts, decision making within the business, application preference, etc.

(d) Co-operative businesses must have share limits, though must be achievable to 10% stake and may not be greater than the designated owner’s share of the business entity.

(e) The owner of a co-operative business may not sell any stock that would no longer make them the majority-shareholder.

SECTION 4. CORPORATION BUSINESSES

(a) A corporation business shall be defined as: “A company or group of individuals that are authorized to act as a single entity.”

(b) A corporation business owner(s) must hold more than 50.1% of it’s public shares when the business entity is made public, these may not be sold but business owner(s) may purchase more shares from a current shareholder.

(c) A corporation is not mandated to share profits or benefits with its shareholders.

(d) A corporation has the option to select a share limit, though public shares available must not be greater than the 49.9%. Shares are capped at 50 per individual other than the business owner(s)

SECTION 5. SELLING PARAMETERS

(a) Selling of stock must only be done in the agreement between two parties for an agreed upon price, and approved and recorded by the business entity in a fair and reasonable time period.

(b) Sale of stock is considered null if a person’s stake in a company is over the defined stock limit of shares.

SECTION 6. REGULATORY PROVISIONS

(a) A business entity must; ensure the sale of stock is given to legitimate and real persons registered with ROBLOX.

(b) Stake in a business may not be added to a person(s) unless a transaction has occurred via FSD, or in exchange for other legal stock.

(c) Stake may not be given to the owner without a purchase after the stock has been publicized.

(d) If a business entity is in conflict or breakage of anything outlined in this legislation, their Business License may be suspended at the discretion and authority of the Department of Commerce.

(e) All public businesses must keep public records as detailed in Section I-H of this act. These records must also be available to the Securities Exchange Commission at any time for review. All stock exchanges must be visible to the SEC.

SECTION 7. PENAL PROVISIONS

(a) A new criminal offense shall be added to Chapter 3 of the Firestone Criminal Code entitled “§11 - Securities Fraud”.

(b) Chapter 3, §11 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall state:

"(a) Securities Fraud shall be recognized as a criminal offense in the State of Firestone.
(b) Securities Fraud shall be defined as performing any of the following actions:
(1) Intentionally and willfully falsifying public stock; either by purporting more stock to exist than actually does or creating stock that isn’t authorized to exist in the first place.
(2) Intentionally and willfully selling or trading (or attempting to sell or trade) stock(s) that one does not lawfully own at the time of the sale or trade (or attempt of sale or trade).
(3) Intentionally and willfully (on the part of the organization’s representatives) purporting to be a public company when they are not pursuant to this act.
(c) Any person convicted pursuant to this section shall be prohibited from selling, trading, distributing, or creating any stock or other security as defined in the Public Shareholders Act.

(c) Chapter 3, §11 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall be classed as a Class C Felony and shall be recognized as a “Courts Only” offense. Any person found to be in violation of Chapter 3, §11 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall, upon conviction in a court of law, be subject to the penalties prescribed for a Class C Felony.

(d) A new criminal offense shall be added to Chapter 6 of the Firestone Criminal Code entitled “§18 - Falsifying Commercial Records”.

(e) Chapter 6, §18 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall state:

“(a) Falsifying Commercial Records shall be recognized as a criminal offense in the State of Firestone.
(b) Falsifying Commercial Records shall be defined as intentionally filing an incorrect or false statement, record, or registration with the Department of Commerce or its subsidiary officials and agencies—including the Securities Exchange Commission.”

(f) Chapter 6, §18 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall be classed as a Class A Misdemeanor and shall be recognized as a “Courts Only” offense. Any person found to be in violation of Chapter 6, §18 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall, upon conviction in a court of law, be subject to the penalties prescribed for a Class A Misdemeanor.

(g) A new criminal offense shall be added to Chapter 4 of the Firestone Criminal Code entitled “§19 - Economic Sabotage”.

(h) Chapter 4, §19 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall state:

“(a)Economic Sabotage shall be recognized as a criminal offense in the State of Firestone.
(b) Economic Sabotage shall be defined as performing any of the following actions:
(1) Intentionally, willfully, and unlawfully obtaining confidential information about a public corporation or co-op in an effort to benefit oneself or to harm the aforementioned corporation or co-op financially. (2) Intentionally and willfully misleading any other person about a corporation or co-op that causes economic loss, or in effort to cause economic loss, to that person. (3) Intentionally and willfully manipulating stocks or securities (as defined in the Public Shareholders Act) to cause a market depression.
(c) Any person convicted pursuant to this section shall be prohibited from selling, trading, distributing, or creating any stock or other security as defined in the Public Shareholders Act.”

(i) Chapter 4, §19 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall be classed as a Class B Felony and shall be recognized as a “Courts Only” offense. Any person found to be in violation of Chapter 4, §19 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall, upon conviction in a court of law, be subject to the penalties prescribed for a Class B Felony.

(j) A new criminal offense will be added to Chapter 4 of the Firestone Criminal Code entitled “§20 - Insider Trading”.

(k) Chapter 4, §20 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall state:

“(a) Inside Trading shall be a criminal offense in the State of Firestone.
(b) Insider Trading shall be the act of using information exclusively obtained through one’s official capacity as an employee of the government when buying, trading, or selling stock.
(c) Any person convicted pursuant to this section shall be prohibited from selling, trading, distributing, or creating any stock or other security as defined in the Public Shareholders Act.
(d) A conviction pursuant to this section shall be grounds for impeachment, termination, or expulsion (relevant to the offender’s position within the government).”

(l) Chapter 4, §20 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall be classed as a Class C Felony and shall be recognized as a “Courts Only” offense. Any person found to be in violation of Chapter 4, §20 of the Firestone Criminal Code shall, upon conviction in a court of law, be subject to the penalties prescribed for a Class C Felony.

SECTION 8.

Should any part of this legislation be declared unconstitutional or otherwise struck down, the rest shall remain in effect unless all is struck down or declared unconstitutional.

SECTION 9.

This legislation shall go into effect immediately after passage given that it follows the procedures to do so, as outlined by the Constitution.