business and corporation records

Most of the corporation reports filed with the SEC going back to 1993 can be viewed online using the SEC’s Edgar (Electronic Data Gathering And Retrieval) database and search engine. Go to:

Edgar Company Search

Type the name of a company into the search box and it will search the headings of documents filed with the SEC to get a list of the electronic reports available on the company.

You also can search the full text of SEC filings for the past four years (for example, to find mentions of a company in filings by another company). For other search options, see the main SEC Edgar search page.

Stock Ownership

Stock ownership information also is available online for officers and directors in the corporation.

Do a search by the name of a company and then look for listings for documents titled Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities.

Or you can search by the name of a person (search by lastname firstname, with no comma in between) to find just stock ownership filings by that person.

For more help using the Edgar site, try the How Do I Use Edgar Web page.

Corporation Websites

Corporations that file with the SEC also put copies of those filings on their websites.

At a corporation's website look for a link to investors or investor relations to find the SEC documents.