1. The final version of a prospectus for a public offering of securities. This document is complete in all details concerning the offering and is referred to as a "statutory prospectus" or "offering circular."

2. Because open-end mutual funds are continuously offering shares to the public, a fund prospectus is usually updated annually and made available to the public. Mutual fund prospectuses are all of the "final" variety.

1. With public offerings of securities, investors first receive what is called a preliminary prospectus, commonly called a "red herring" because of the pinkish color of the paper on which it is printed. Subsequently, the final prospectus is made available to investors who are considering a purchase of the security in question. A key difference between a final prospectus and a preliminary prospectus is that the final prospectus contains the security's price.