"Effective means approved in this sense," Byrne said. "You file it [Form S-3] with the SEC, you go back and forth until it is approved, and then it sits on the shelf. It can sit on the shelf for 3-4 years before you have to do the process again."

Form S-3 is a registration form mandated by the SEC that gives established companies an easier path to issue publicly traded securities. If a company has at least 12 months of properly filed reports with the SEC and is compliant with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, it is eligible to file a Form S-3.

"Once it has been approved, it [an actual offering of securities] doesn't require any further approval," he said.

But while the company has approval to issue securities, it has made no determination yet on if it will.