The Form 1 Files Dataset collects the complete EDGAR submission packages for Form 1 and Form 1/A — the application and amendment filings that register, and keep current, a U.S. national securities exchange under Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The dataset is pre-filtered to form types 1 and 1/A and bundles each accession's full submission (metadata plus all document attachments except images), so the application body arrives alongside the charter, bylaws, rulebook, membership and discipline exhibits, fee schedules, and financial statements prescribed in the General Instructions to Form 1. Filers are the exchange entities themselves — NYSE-group, Nasdaq-group, Cboe-group, MIAX, IEX, MEMX, LTSE venues, plus prospective operators and limited-volume exchanges seeking exemption. Coverage begins January 1, 2002, when Form 1 and Form 1/A first appear as EDGAR submission types; the pre-EDGAR paper originals from 1934-1935 are not included.
Programmatically retrieve the full list of dataset archive files, download URLs and dataset metadata.
Dataset Index JSON API
Download the entire dataset as a single archive file.
Download Entire Dataset:
Download a single container file (e.g. monthly archive) from the dataset.
Download Single Container:
Form 1 is the SEC's registration and continuing-disclosure instrument for national securities exchanges. It is the vehicle prescribed by Rule 6a-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for any entity that operates, or proposes to operate, as an exchange within the meaning of Section 3(a)(1). Section 5 bars unregistered exchange activity and Section 6 sets the substantive registration requirements — compliance enforcement, fair representation, disciplinary procedures, and anti-manipulation rules — that a Form 1 application must address before the Commission can act under Section 19(a)(1).
Form 1/A is the amendment counterpart, prescribed by Rule 6a-2, which requires a registered exchange to keep its Form 1 current whenever a material change affects previously filed information or exhibits. Rule 6a-2 also imposes periodic supplementary updates, so Form 1/A amendments far outnumber initial Form 1 applications in the dataset. Together the two form types constitute the full registration-and-amendment trail for every U.S. national securities exchange: the founding package that establishes an exchange's entire regulatory footprint, plus the continuing-disclosure stream that tracks changes to charter, bylaws, governance, rulebook, membership criteria, disciplinary procedures, and financial statements through the life of the venue. The dataset is distributed as monthly ZIP containers covering Form 1 and Form 1/A filings from January 2002 onward.
Form 1 is filed by the entity that operates, or proposes to operate, as a national securities exchange under Section 3(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The legal filer is the exchange entity itself — typically a Delaware LLC or corporation — not its parent holding company. In practice the filer population is small and institutional:
Parent holding companies — Intercontinental Exchange, Nasdaq Inc., Cboe Global Markets, and similar — appear in the organizational exhibits but are not the registrants.
Records in this dataset fall into two trigger categories.
Initial Form 1 is triggered when an entity needs to register to lawfully operate an exchange. Once filed, the Commission publishes the application for notice and comment and acts under Section 19(a)(1), generally within 90 days of publication (extendable to 180). Applicants typically file well in advance of intended launch.
Form 1/A amendments are triggered by Rule 6a-2, which requires a registered exchange to keep its Form 1 current. An amendment is required when there is a material change to information or exhibits previously filed, including:
Rule 6a-2 also imposes periodic supplementary updates — for example, annual refreshes of certain governance exhibits. Amendments must be filed promptly after a material change takes effect. Because 6a-2 obligations continue for the life of the exchange, Form 1/A submissions far outnumber initial Form 1 submissions in the dataset. Form 1/A is also used for corrections to a pending application during Commission review, so the same form type covers both pre-registration amendments and post-registration continuing disclosure.
Form 1 is a registration and continuing-disclosure instrument, not a periodic or transactional report like Form 10-K, Form 8-K, or Form 4. Exchange rule changes themselves are filed on Form 19b-4 under Section 19(b); corresponding rulebook exhibits within Form 1 are refreshed via 6a-2 amendments.
Entities that look like trading venues but fall outside the Form 1 population file elsewhere:
On timing coverage: exchanges that existed at enactment of the 1934 Act filed original Form 1s on paper in 1934-1935; those pre-EDGAR filings are not in this dataset. Form 1 and Form 1/A appear as EDGAR submission types from the early 2000s, and the dataset begins in January 2002.
Form 1 sits inside a small cluster of filings governing the registration and oversight of trading venues and market infrastructure. The distinctions below turn on three axes: whether the filing creates a new venue or modifies an existing one, which category of market it covers (exchange, ATS, clearing agency, SEF, association), and whether the disclosure is a one-time structural event or a recurring operational report.
Form 19b-4 (SRO Proposed Rule Changes). The ongoing rule-change vehicle used by an exchange after it has been registered on Form 1. Content overlaps (rule text, governance language, operational descriptions), but lifecycle and scope differ. Form 1 establishes the exchange's entire regulatory footprint in a single comprehensive application; Form 19b-4 is event-driven and incremental, covering one proposed change to an already-registered SRO's rules, fees, or trading practices. Use Form 1 for founding rulebook and baseline governance; use Form 19b-4 to track how that rulebook evolves. They are complements, not substitutes.
Form ATS / Form ATS-N (Alternative Trading Systems). Registers a venue operating as an ATS under Regulation ATS rather than as a national securities exchange. Both describe trading mechanics, access criteria, and order handling, but regulatory status diverges sharply. Form 1 filers seek exchange registration under Section 6 and accept SRO obligations (charter, membership discipline, governance); ATS filers operate as broker-dealers under the Reg ATS exemption and file venue-operator disclosures instead (conflicts, affiliate order handling on ATS-N). Use Form 1 for lit exchanges; use ATS/ATS-N for dark pools and ECNs.
Form CA-1 (Clearing Agency Registration). Structurally mirrors Form 1 as a comprehensive one-time-plus-amendments registration package (organizational documents, rules, membership criteria, disciplinary procedures). The difference is function: CA-1 registrants clear, settle, and provide central counterparty services; Form 1 registrants match and execute trades. Pair the two when studying full market infrastructure; use CA-1 alone for post-trade research.
Form SBSEF (Security-Based Swap Execution Facility Registration). The newest venue-registration form, covering SBSEFs under Section 3D. Resembles Form 1 in collecting rulebooks, governance documents, and participant-access criteria, but differs in product scope (security-based swaps, not equities or listed options) and in execution-method disclosures specific to order books and RFQ systems. Use SBSEF for swap venues; Form 1 will not contain them, and SBSEF will not contain national exchanges.
Form X-15AA-1 (Registered Securities Association Registration). The Section 15A registration for a national securities association — the category occupied today by FINRA. Conceptually a sibling of Form 1: both register SROs, both require articles, bylaws, rules, and disciplinary procedures. The difference is SRO type: Form 1 registers a trading venue with listed members; X-15AA-1 registers an association that regulates broker-dealers without operating a listing venue. Use Form 1 for exchange governance; use X-15AA-1 for association-level SRO governance.
General EDGAR full-text or all-filings datasets. Broad EDGAR archives contain Form 1 filings but bury them among millions of 10-Ks, 8-Ks, Form 4s, and prospectuses, and typically expose only an index or primary document rather than the full submission package. Form 1 Files is pre-filtered to types 1 and 1/A and bundles every accession's complete submission (metadata plus all document attachments except images), so charter, bylaws, rulebook exhibits, and governance attachments arrive together. Prefer a general EDGAR feed only if you already run a pipeline that filters and reassembles exhibits; otherwise Form 1 Files removes that step and guarantees exhibit completeness.
Form 1 Files is the right dataset when the question concerns the formation, structural registration, or material amendment of a U.S. national securities exchange and requires the full submission package — application body plus charter, bylaws, rulebook, and membership/discipline exhibits. It is not the right dataset for post-registration rule changes (Form 19b-4), non-exchange venues (ATS/ATS-N, SBSEF), clearing and settlement infrastructure (CA-1), or association-type SROs (X-15AA-1). Exchange registration is an infrequent, high-impact event, so the dataset is small by filing count but dense per filing; its value lies in the completeness of each submission package, not in volume or time-series breadth.
Form 1 and Form 1/A filings contain the full operating architecture of a national securities exchange — charter, bylaws, rulebook, membership criteria, listing standards, fee schedules, surveillance procedures, and disciplinary frameworks. The audience is narrow and specialized.
Counsel drafting new exchange applications, responding to staff comment letters, or advising on exchange-vs-ATS registration pull Form 1/A exhibits to compare how peer exchanges worded order-type definitions, priority and matching logic, self-trade prevention, access fee caps, and market-maker obligations. Charter, bylaws, and fair-access provisions drive governance and conflict-of-interest arguments.
In-house registration and legal-operations staff at existing and prospective exchanges use Form 1/A amendments as drafting precedent when restructuring governance, adjusting ownership limits, revising disciplinary procedures, or updating affiliate and market-maker rules. The amendment trail supports responses to staff inquiries on ongoing Rule 6a-2 obligations.
Rulemaking analysts cross-reference Form 1 rulebook text with subsequent 19b-4 filings to trace how specific rules evolved from initial registration. Outputs include comparative rulebook analyses, harmonization memos, and policy work on tiered pricing, co-location, retail liquidity programs, and closing-auction mechanics.
Regulatory affairs teams verify membership requirements, connectivity obligations, capital and margin rules, and disciplinary escalation paths at each venue they access. Trading operations reference rule exhibits to reconcile order-handling duties, cancel-on-disconnect, halt and reopening logic, and session timing — feeding supervisory procedures and multi-venue routing runbooks.
Strategy teams at exchanges, market makers, and clearing intermediaries read fee schedules, rebate structures, ownership caps, governance composition, and affiliation rules to model routing economics, market-share dynamics, and partnership or acquisition options. Form 1/A history reconstructs how a venue's business model shifted over time.
Sponsors building digital-asset exchanges, specialty listing markets, and niche equity or options venues use the dataset as a library of approved registration templates. They mine existing filings for charter structure, board-independence provisions, regulatory services agreements, and surveillance arrangements when assembling their own Form 1 package.
Empirical researchers use rule exhibits to anchor interpretation of trade and quote data — identifying when a given order type, priority rule, or protection mechanism was introduced or amended. The filings also support historical studies of demutualization, for-profit exchange transitions, and governance design.
Journalists covering exchange policy, trading technology, and governance disputes use Form 1/A as primary-source documentation for claims about rule changes, ownership structure, and controversial order types. The amendment history pinpoints when a practice was formalized or revised.
Execution analysts at institutional investors focus on order-type definitions, priority rules, auction mechanics, tick regimes, retail liquidity provisions, and conflicts between exchange operators and affiliated broker-dealers. This feeds best-execution committee reviews, venue scorecards, and routing-table negotiations with executing brokers.
Vendors building compliance, surveillance, and transaction cost analysis products encode venue-specific rules into their systems. They extract membership criteria, disciplinary procedures, halt and pause logic, and reporting obligations to keep software aligned with each exchange's actual rulebook.
Teams building question-answering systems for exchange regulation and SRO governance treat Form 1 filings as a high-value corpus. The long, structured rulebook text with stable terminology — order types, priority rules, disciplinary procedures, governance provisions — chunks and embeds cleanly for copilots aimed at compliance staff, counsel, and policy analysts.
The workflows below are grounded in the full submission package — application body, charter, bylaws, rulebook, and membership and discipline exhibits — for Form 1 and Form 1/A filings.
Founders of digital-asset, specialty-listing, or niche equity and options venues assemble a Form 1 application by mining prior registrations for charter language, board-independence provisions, regulatory services agreement structures, and surveillance arrangements. Counsel compares exhibit-by-exhibit across several approved filings to select precedent that aligns with the sponsor's governance model before writing the first draft.
SRO policy analysts pair Form 1 baseline rulebook exhibits with subsequent Form 1/A amendments (and downstream Form 19b-4 filings) to trace how a specific rule — tiered pricing, co-location access, retail liquidity programs, closing-auction mechanics — moved from initial registration to current text. Output is a dated diff trail used in harmonization memos and comment-letter research.
Market-structure lawyers and buy-side execution analysts extract order-type definitions, priority and matching logic, self-trade prevention provisions, and halt and reopening rules across multiple exchanges' Form 1/A exhibits. The comparative grid feeds best-execution committee reviews, venue scorecards, and arguments in staff comment-letter responses about how peer venues worded similar provisions.
Compliance, surveillance, and transaction cost analysis vendors ingest membership criteria, disciplinary procedures, session timing, cancel-on-disconnect behavior, and reporting obligations from rulebook exhibits to keep their software aligned with each exchange's actual rules. The complete exhibit bundle removes the step of reassembling attachments from a generic EDGAR feed.
Strategy teams and counsel read charter, bylaws, ownership caps, affiliation restrictions, and fair-access provisions to model routing economics, assess exchange-affiliate broker-dealer conflicts, and evaluate partnership or acquisition options. The Form 1/A amendment history reconstructs how ownership limits and governance composition shifted through demutualization and for-profit transitions.
LLM and RAG developers use Form 1 filings as a high-value corpus for compliance and SRO-governance question answering. The long, structured rulebook text with stable terminology — order types, priority rules, disciplinary procedures, membership criteria — chunks and embeds cleanly, and the pre-filtered 1 and 1/A scope avoids the noise of a general EDGAR archive.
Dataset Index JSON API: https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-1-files.json
This endpoint returns metadata describing the Form 1 Files Dataset, including the dataset name and description, the timestamp of the most recent refresh, the earliest sample date, total record and size counters, the covered form types (1 and 1/A), the container format, the file types included in each container, the download URL for the full dataset archive, and the list of individual container files with per-container size, record count, updated timestamp, and download URL. Poll this endpoint to detect which containers changed in the latest refresh run and selectively download only the updated containers. No API key is required to access this endpoint.
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{
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"datasetId": "1f13365b-9ae0-696b-913a-ef646b5f45a1",
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"datasetDownloadUrl": "https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-1-files.zip",
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"name": "Form 1 Files Dataset",
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"updatedAt": "2026-04-15T07:59:01.210Z",
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"earliestSampleDate": "2002-01-01",
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"totalRecords": 0,
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"totalSize": 3630,
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"formTypes": ["1", "1/A"],
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"containerFormat": "ZIP",
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"fileTypes": [],
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"containers": [
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{
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"downloadUrl": "https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-1-files/2026/2026-03.zip",
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"key": "2026/2026-03.zip",
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"size": 3630,
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"records": 1,
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"updatedAt": "2026-04-15T07:59:01.210Z"
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}
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]
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}
Download Entire Dataset: https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-1-files.zip?token=YOUR_API_KEY
Downloads the complete Form 1 Files Dataset as a single ZIP archive covering all filings from January 2002 to the present. This endpoint requires a valid API key.
Download Single Container: https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-1-files/2026/2026-03.zip?token=YOUR_API_KEY
Downloads a single monthly container archive instead of the full dataset, useful for incremental updates or selective retrieval. Replace the year and month path segments with any container key returned by the dataset index JSON API. This endpoint requires a valid API key.
The dataset is pre-filtered to SEC form types 1 and 1/A — the application form used to register a national securities exchange and the amendment form used to keep that registration current. No other EDGAR form types are included.
The filer is the entity that operates, or proposes to operate, as a national securities exchange under Section 3(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — typically a Delaware LLC or corporation such as an NYSE-group, Nasdaq-group, Cboe-group, MIAX, IEX, MEMX, or LTSE venue. Prospective exchange operators and limited-volume exchanges seeking exemption also file. Parent holding companies are not the registrants.
Rule 6a-2 requires a registered exchange to amend its Form 1 promptly after any material change to previously filed information or exhibits — including charter, bylaws, officers and directors, affiliates, membership and disciplinary rules, rulebook exhibits, fee schedules, and financial statements. Rule 6a-2 also imposes periodic supplementary updates, such as annual refreshes of certain governance exhibits.
Form 1 establishes an exchange's entire regulatory footprint in a single comprehensive application at the time of registration. Form 19b-4 is event-driven and incremental, covering one proposed rule, fee, or trading-practice change filed after the exchange is already registered. The two are complements, not substitutes: use Form 1 for the founding rulebook, and Form 19b-4 to track how that rulebook evolves.
Coverage begins January 1, 2002, when Form 1 and Form 1/A first appear as EDGAR submission types. The original Form 1s filed on paper in 1934-1935 by exchanges that existed at enactment of the Securities Exchange Act are not in the dataset.
The dataset is distributed as ZIP containers organized by year and month (for example, 2026/2026-03.zip). Each container bundles every accession's complete submission — metadata plus all document attachments except images — so charter, bylaws, rulebook exhibits, and governance attachments arrive together rather than having to be reassembled from a generic EDGAR feed.
Poll the Dataset Index JSON API at https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-1-files.json to read the per-container updatedAt timestamps, then download only the containers whose timestamps changed since the last run using the container-specific download URL with a valid API key. The index endpoint itself does not require an API key.