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In dark times, public firms can "go dark." This means that typically small public firms can opt to deregister with the Securities & Exchange Commission so they no longer have to file onerous documents such as 10-Qs and 10-Ks. They are still public firms since they trade stock over-the-counter, but usually give out no financial information about themselves at all.

Going dark is sometimes considered a better option than going private becuse it means the public firm doesn't have to buy up all of the outstanding shares of stock. It became a popular option about five years ago when small public firms hit rough patches or didn't want to pay for the compliance costs of Sarbanes-Oxley.

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