# BRD-045 — PUBLIC_PROFIT means the shares actually trade

> The PUBLIC_PROFIT classification is available only to a company whose shares are genuinely publicly traded.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-045
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.entity_type`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** External record we cannot query — reported as a warning to verify
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** Twilio, TCR
- **Applies:** Applies when the brand is a public company.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-045/

## Why this rule exists

Public companies start at the top carrier trust class and get the throughput that comes with it, so the claim is checked against an exchange listing rather than taken from the form. The mistake is usually a large private company reading "public" as "well known", and the result is not a downgrade — it is a failed identity verification, because the ticker matched nothing.

## How to fix it

Register as PRIVATE_PROFIT unless the company has a ticker on a recognised exchange. A private company with high volume gets there through external vetting instead, which raises throughput on evidence rather than on classification.

## Provider rejection codes

| Provider | Code | Resubmission allowed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Twilio | `30796` | yes |

## Check this yourself

**Do this company's shares trade today, under the symbol on this brand, on a recognised exchange?**

1. Look the ticker up and confirm it returns this company — not a similarly named one, and not a listing that has since been withdrawn.
2. Confirm the company still files with the SEC. A company taken private keeps its remembered ticker and loses the classification.

*What wrong looks like:* A large, well-known private company reads "public" as "well known". The result is not a downgrade to private — it is a failed identity verification, because the ticker matched nothing.

## Notes

The listing is checked against exchange data we do not hold. What the user has to confirm themselves is that the company files with the SEC and its shares trade under the symbol being submitted — a company that was public and has since been taken private is the case that catches people, because the ticker is still remembered.