The exemption in Section 201(6) addresses specified options, warrants, and rights that are not federal covered securities under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933, but generally would have been exempted under RUSA. The 1956 Act, which was narrower, was drafted before the computerized Nasdaq stock market began trading the National Market List and the development of standardized options markets.

The final clause of Section 201(6) makes clear that any offer or sale of the underlying security that occurs as a result of the offer or sale of an option or other derivative security exempted under this provision or as the result of the exercise of the option or other derivative security, is covered by the exemption if the option met the terms of the exemption at the time such derivative security was written (that is, sold) or issued. The sale of the underlying security when an option is exercised would be exempt even if the underlying security is not at that time subject to any exemption under the Act. This is consistent with existing precedent under federal law suggesting that the legality of the sale of an underlying security when an option is exercised should be determined by the status of the security at the time the option was written rather than at the time of exercise. See, e.g., H. Kook & Co., Inc. v. Scheinman, Hochstin & Trotta, Inc., 414 F.2d 93 (2d Cir. 1969). Any transaction in an underlying security that results from the offer, sale, or exercise of any derivative security issued by a registered clearing agency and traded on a national securities exchange or association is exempt if the derivative security when written was exempt under Section 201(6).

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted Rule 9b-1 under Section 9(b).

7. Section 201(7): Nonprofit organization securities: Prior Provision: Section 3(a)(4) of the Securities Act of 1933. Section 402(a)(9) of the 1956 Act and Section 401(b)(10) of RUSA exempt specified nonprofit securities. Both are modeled on Section 3(a)(4) of the Securities Act, which was subsequently amended.

Securities issued under Section 3(a)(4) of the Securities Act of 1933 are not treated as federal covered securities in Section 18(b)(4)(C), although a separate Section 3(a)(13)