<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A public company, publicly traded company, publicly held company, publicly listed company, or public corporation is a corporation whose ownership is dispersed among the general public in many shares of stock which are freely traded on a stock exchange or in over the counter markets . In some jurisdictions, public companies over a certain size must be listed on an exchange . A public company can be listed (listed company) or unlisted (unlisted public company). </P> <P> In the early modern period, the Dutch developed several financial instruments and helped lay the foundations of modern financial system . The Dutch East India Company (VOC) became the first company in history to issue bonds and shares of stock to the general public . In other words, the VOC was officially the first publicly traded company, because it was the first company to be ever actually listed on an official stock exchange . While the Italian city - states produced the first transferable government bonds, they did not develop the other ingredient necessary to produce a fully fledged capital market: corporate shareholders . As Edward Stringham (2015) notes, "companies with transferable shares date back to classical Rome, but these were usually not enduring endeavors and no considerable secondary market existed (Neal, 1997, p. 61)." </P> <P> Usually, the securities of a publicly traded company are owned by many investors while the shares of a privately held company are owned by relatively few shareholders . A company with many shareholders is not necessarily a publicly traded company . In the United States, in some instances, companies with over 500 shareholders may be required to report under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; companies that report under the 1934 Act are generally deemed public companies . </P>

Which of the following is not a basic kind of market