A company whose shares are listed with and trade on an exchange (stock market), being available for any investor to buy or sell in the open market. A publicly listed company is a public company (publicly traded company or reporting company) whose shares are issued and traded through an exchange or a similar venue, representing a stake of ownership in the company.

Any investor can become an owner by purchasing its stock from the market. A publicly listed company first issues its stock in the primary market (first time issue) which then become tradable on the secondary market amongst investors (shareholders) without any direct intervention by the issuer.

Listing may involve two different venues for a company’s primary and secondary trading (the so-called cross listing). Cross-listing is the listing of a company’s common shares on a different exchange than its primary exchange (the exchange where its original stock offering is made). Companies must meet an exchange’s listing requirements in order to be cross-listed.