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DRS: Draft Registration Statements with Python

EdgarTools parses DRS and DRS/A filings into a DraftRegistrationStatement object. A DRS is a confidential submission companies file with the SEC before going public — the content is identical to an S-1 or F-1, but the filing remains confidential until the company proceeds with the registration.

from edgar import find

filing = find("0001193125-23-276353")   # any DRS accession number
drs = filing.obj()                      # DraftRegistrationStatement

What the Object Contains

EDGAR's metadata for DRS filings says only "DRS" or "DRS/A" — it does not tell you whether the underlying document is an S-1, F-1, S-4, or another form. DraftRegistrationStatement reads the cover page text to detect the form type, then builds a fully parsed data object for the underlying registration when one is available.

drs.form              # "DRS" or "DRS/A"
drs.underlying_form   # "S-1", "F-1", "S-4", "S-3", "20-F", "Form 10", ...
drs.is_amendment      # True if DRS/A
drs.amendment_number  # 2 for "Amendment No. 2", else None
drs.registration_number  # "377-01234" or None

Access the Underlying Registration Object

When the detected form type is S-1 or F-1, underlying_object returns a fully parsed RegistrationS1 with all its properties — cover page, fee table, offering type, and more.

obj = drs.underlying_object  # RegistrationS1, RegistrationS3, or None

if obj is not None:
    print(obj.offering_type.display_name)

    cp = obj.cover_page
    print(cp.state_of_incorporation)
    print(cp.sic_code)
    print(cp.ein)

    ft = obj.fee_table        # fee table if present

underlying_object is None for form types without a dedicated data object (S-4, 20-F, Form 10, etc.). Always check before accessing its properties.

Check Amendment Status

if drs.is_amendment:
    print(f"Amendment No. {drs.amendment_number}")

amendment_number is extracted from the cover page text (e.g., "Amendment No. 2"). It can be None if the filing is an amendment but the number is not parseable.

Quick Reference

Properties

Property Type Description Example
form str Filing form code "DRS"
underlying_form str Detected form type "S-1"
company str Company name "Acme Corp"
company_name str Alias for company "Acme Corp"
filing_date date Date filed 2023-10-15
accession_number str EDGAR accession number "0001193125-23-276353"
is_amendment bool True if DRS/A False
amendment_number int \| None Amendment sequence number 2
registration_number str \| None 377-series reg number "377-01234"
underlying_object RegistrationS1 \| RegistrationS3 \| None Full data object for the underlying form —
filing Filing Source Filing object —

Underlying Form Coverage

Detected Form underlying_object type
S-1, F-1 RegistrationS1
S-3 RegistrationS3
S-4, F-4, 20-F, 40-F, Form 10 None
Unknown None

Things to Know

underlying_form is detected from the first 8,000 characters of the cover page HTML. Detection succeeds for the common forms; unusual formatting may yield "Unknown".

The registration_number has a 377- prefix, which distinguishes DRS submissions from standard registration numbers. It may be None for early submissions before the SEC assigns a number.

Once a company proceeds with a public offering, they file the same content as a public S-1 or F-1. The DRS and the subsequent public filing are separate EDGAR filings.