A promoter is a person who starts up a business, particularly a corporation, including the financing. The formation of a corporation starts with an idea. Preincorporation activities transform this idea into an actual corporation. The individual who carries on these preincorporation activities is called a promoter. Usually the promoter is the main shareholder or one of the management team and receives stock for his/her efforts in organization. Most states limit the amount of "promotional stock" since it is supported only by effort and not by assets or cash. If preincorporation contracts are executed by the promoter in his/her own name and there is no further action, the promoter is personally liable on them, and the corporation is not.
Under the Federal Securities Act of 1933, a pre-organization certificate or subscription is included in the definition of a security. Therefore, a contract to issue securities in the future is itself a contract for the sale of securities. In order to secure an exemption, all stock subscription agreements involving intrastate offerings should contain representations by the purchasers that they are bona fide residents of the state of which the issuer is a resident and that they are purchasing the securities for their own account and not with the view to reselling them to nonresidents. A stock transfer restriction running for a period of at least one year or for nine months after the last sale of the issue by the issuer is customarily included to insure that securities have not only been initially sold to residents, but have "come to rest" in the hands of residents.
