Derivative Securities Law and Legal Definition
Derivative securities means “any option, warrant, convertible security, stock appreciation right, or similar right with an exercise or conversion privilege at a price related to an equity security, or similar securities with a value derived from the value of an equity security, but shall not include:
(1) Rights of a pledgee of securities to sell the pledged securities;
(2) Rights of all holders of a class of securities of an issuer to receive securities pro rata, or obligations to dispose of securities, as a result of a merger, exchange offer, or consolidation involving the issuer of the securities;
(3) Rights or obligations to surrender a security, or have a security withheld, upon the receipt or exercise of a derivative security or the receipt or vesting of equity securities, in order to satisfy the exercise price or the tax withholding consequences of receipt, exercise or vesting;
(4) Interests in broad-based index options, broad-based index futures, and broad-based publicly traded market baskets of stocks approved for trading by the appropriate federal governmental authority;
(5) Interests or rights to participate in employee benefit plans of the issuer;
(6) Rights with an exercise or conversion privilege at a price that is not fixed; or
(7) Options granted to an underwriter in a registered public offering for the purpose of satisfying over-allotments in such offering.” (17 CFR 240.16a-1)
