Many companies have filed or are about to file their Form 10-Qs for their first quarter.  Thus, it seems an opportune time to present the following koans:

• Part IV, Item 15 of Form 10-K instructs the registrant to "List the following documents filed as a part of the report . . . Those exhibits required by Item 601 . . ." while Part II, Item 6 of Form 10-Q adjures "Furnish the exhibits required by Item 601", is there any significance of filing versus furnishing in this context?
• General Instruction F(2) of Form 10-Q intones "Information presented in satisfaction of the requirements of this form other than those of Items 1, 2 and 3 of Part I shall be deemed filed for the purpose of Section 18 of the [Securities Exchange] Act . . .".  Does this mean information furnished pursuant to Part II, Item 6 is deemed filed?  If so, why not simply say so?
• Item 601(b)(2) requires the filing of any "material plan of acquisition, disposition, reorganization, readjustment, succession, liquidation or arrangement and any amendments thereto described in the statement or report".  With respect to Form 10-Qs, Item 601(b)(4)(v) requires the filing of instruments defining the rights of holders of securities or indebtedness when the text of the Form 10-Q, the interim financial statements, or the footnotes thereto disclose "the creation of a new class of securities or indebtedness or the modification of existing rights of security holders, file all instruments defining the rights of holders of these securities or indebtedness".  What does it mean to disclose the "creation of"?  Is simply referring to something that was created disclosing the "creation of" or must the disclosure mention the act or fact of creation?  For example, is filing triggered by the mere mention of "the heavens and earth" or only if the statement is "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth"?

For those not familiar with the term, a koan is an enigmatic saying, story or statement that is intended to exercise and test a student.  One well-known koan concerns a temple flag - which is moving, the flag, the wind or the mind?  Another koan is the question "what is the sound of one hand clapping?".

In Japanese, koan is written as a combination of two characters: 公, meaning public, and 案, meaning a table or desk.  It is a metonymy as the public desk or table came to mean a public record or case.  In a similar way, "chair" in American usage has become to mean a person, although the motivation for this additional meaning has been an arguably mistaken perception that "chairman" is gender specific.  See Chairman, Chairwoman, or Chair? (pointing out that "man" is derived from the Anglo Saxon term “mann” which simply referred to a human being, regardless of sex).