Securities Holiday Inn, the Midscale

¶ … Securities

Holiday Inn, the midscale international hotel chain that trades as Intercontinental Hotel Group (ticker symbol: IHG) on the New York Stock Exchange, issues standard shares of stock to the public in conjunction with normal procedures and all applicable laws and regulations (IHG 2010). Like most shares of common stock, certain voting rights and shares in the company's profitability are conferred upon owners of stock in Holiday Inn, in exchange for the use of capital provided by the cash for the sale of the stock itself (IHG 2010; Little 2010). The issuance of stock in this manner places certain aspects of the company's operations under the purview of various regulatory agencies, and the securities that the company issues are themselves subject to regulation by both agencies in the federal government and in the private sector in a variety of ways for the protection of the public.

The major entity that oversees stock and security trades and the issuance of stocks in general in the United States is the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC (Little 2010). Established in the wake of the stock market crash that caused the Great Depression, the SEC exists primarily to serve two functions: it requires that companies like Holiday Inn that offer securities for public sale also provide certain financial information concerning the company and the securities being sold, and it works to prevent, prohibit, and punish instances of fraud and deception in the sale of securities (SEC 2010). These functions affect all publicly traded companies, and do not have an increased influence on the securities issued by Holiday Inn when compared to other companies, but this affect is quite extensive.

In addition to the increased paperwork and financial documentation that publicly traded companies must produce and provide to the public under the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, there is a non-governmental body called the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, known by the acronym of FINRA, that also has some influence on the way the securities issued by Holiday Inn are handled (Little 2010). Though not empowered with the same legislative authority that the SEC can claim, FINRA sets standards for stockbrokers and other financial industry professionals, and licenses individuals as well as oversees certain aspects of operations with regulatory eye (Little 2010; FINRA 2010). Illegal trading or suspicious trading can lead to investigations by FINRA that can then lead directly to legal problems for companies found to be in violation of laws and ethics guidelines, meaning that the securities issued by Holiday Inn could eventually face direct regulation by this body, and that the trading of Holiday Inn securities -- like other securities traded in the United States -- is always at least indirectly influenced by the standards and regulations established by FINRA (Little 2010; FINRA 2010).