SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 ____________________________________ FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 ____________________________________ NEXIA HOLDINGS, INC. --------------------- (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Nevada 84-1062062 ------------------------------- ------------------------------------ (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) incorporation or organization) 268 West 400 South, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 ----------------------------------------------------------- (Address of principal executive offices) The 2003 Benefit Plan of Nexia Holdings, Inc. ---------------------------------------------- (Full title of the plan) Richard D. Surber, 268 West 400 South, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Name, address, including zip code, of agent for service) Telephone number for Issuer: (801) 575-8073 CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE ============================================================================== Proposed Proposed Title of Maximum Maximum Securities Amounts to Offering Aggregate Amount of to be to be Price Per Offering Registration Registered Registered Share (1) Price Fee ------------------- --------------- ------------- ----------- --------------- Common Stock, 0.001 par value 20,000,000 $0.005 $100,000 $25 ============================================================================== (1) Bona fide estimate of maximum offering price solely for calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h) of the Securities Act of 1933, based on the average bid and asked price of the registrant's common stock as of September 22, 2003, a date within five business days prior to the date of filing of this registration statement. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement also covers an indeterminate amount of interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the Plan described herein. Page -1- 2003 Benefit Plan of Nexia Holdings, Inc. Cross-Reference Sheet Pursuant to Rule 404(a) Cross-reference between items of Part I of Form S-8 and the Section 10(a) Prospectus that will be delivered to each employee, consultant, or director who participates in the Plan. Registration Statement Item Numbers and Headings Prospectus Heading ------------------------------------------------ ------------------ 1. Plan Information Section 10(a) Prospectus 2. Registrant Information and Section 10(a) Prospectus Employee Plan Annual Information PART II INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference The following documents filed by Nexia Holdings, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") are hereby incorporated by reference: 1. The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002. 2. All reports filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), since the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002. Prior to the filing, if any, of a post-effective amendment that indicates that all securities covered by this Registration Statement have been sold or that de-registers all such securities then remaining unsold, all reports and other documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, or 15(d) of the Exchange Act shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the date of the filing of such reports and documents. Item 4. Description of Securities The common stock of the Company being registered pursuant to this Registration Statement is part of a class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. The securities are described in the Form S-18 Registration Statement filed on September 16, 1988 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description. Page -2- Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel No expert is named as preparing or certifying all or part of the registration statement to which this prospectus pertains, and no counsel for the Company who is named in this prospectus as having given an opinion on the validity of the securities being offered hereby was hired on a contingent basis or has or is to receive, in connection with this offering, a substantial interest, direct or indirect, in the Company. Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers Sections 78.7502 and 78.751 of the Nevada Business Corporation Act, as amended, provide for the indemnification of the Company's officers, directors, employees and agents under certain circumstances as follows: NRS 78.7502 DISCRETIONARY AND MANDATORY INDEMNIFICATION OF OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS: GENERAL PROVISIONS. 1. A corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, except an action by or in the right of the corporation, by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses, including attorneys' fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with the action, suit or proceeding if he acted in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, does not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and that, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, he had reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful. 2. A corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses, including amounts paid in settlement and attorneys' fees actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with the defense or settlement of the action or suit if he acted in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation. Indemnification may not be made for any claim, issue or matter as to which such a person has been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction, after exhaustion of all appeals therefrom, to be liable to the corporation or for amounts paid in settlement to the corporation, unless and only to the extent that the court in which the action or suit was brought or other court of competent jurisdiction determines upon application that in view of all the circumstances of the case, the person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses as the court deems proper. 3. To the extent that a director, officer, employee or agent of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit Page -3- or proceeding referred to in subsections 1 and 2, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, the corporation shall indemnify him against expenses, including attorneys' fees, actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with the defense. NRS 78.751 AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED FOR DISCRETIONARY INDEMNIFICATION; ADVANCEMENT OF EXPENSES; LIMITATION ON INDEMNIFICATION AND ADVANCEMENT OF EXPENSES. 1. Any discretionary indemnification under NRS 78.7502 unless ordered by a court or advanced pursuant to subsection 2, may be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances. The determination must be made: (a) By the stockholders; (b) By the board of directors by majority vote of a quorum consisting of directors who were not parties to the action, suit or proceeding; (c) If a majority vote of a quorum consisting of directors who were not parties to the action, suit or proceeding so orders, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion; or (d) If a quorum consisting of directors who were not parties to the action, suit or proceeding cannot be obtained, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion. 2. The articles of incorporation, the bylaws or an agreement made by the corporation may provide that the expenses of officers and directors incurred in defending a civil or criminal action, suit or proceeding must be paid by the corporation as they are incurred and in advance of the final disposition of the action, suit or proceeding, upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the director or officer to repay the amount if it is ultimately determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation. The provisions of this subsection do not affect any rights to advancement of expenses to which corporate personnel other than directors or officers may be entitled under any contract or otherwise by law. 3. The indemnification and advancement of expenses authorized in or ordered by a court pursuant to this section: (a) Does not exclude any other rights to which a person seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under the articles of incorporation or any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, for either an action in his official capacity or an action in another capacity while holding his office, except that indemnification, unless ordered by a court pursuant to NRS 78.7502 or for the advancement of expenses made pursuant to subsection 2, may not be made to or on behalf of any director or officer if a final adjudication establishes that his acts or omissions involved intentional misconduct, fraud or a knowing violation of the law and was material to the cause of action. (b) Continues for a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and inures to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person. Articles of Incorporation. The Company's Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation provide that the personal liability of a director or officer of the Company to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty, for any action taken or for any failure to take any action, as a director or officer, shall be eliminated to the fullest extent permissible under Nevada law, except for (a) acts or omissions which involve intentional misconduct, fraud, infliction of harm on the Company or its stockholders or a knowing violation of criminal law, (b) the payment of distributions in violation of Section 78.300 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, or (c) the amount of a financial benefit received by a director to which he is not entitled. Page -4- Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Company, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities ( other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceedings) is asserted by such director, officer, or controlling person in connection with any securities being registered, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issues. Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed No restricted securities are being re-offered or resold pursuant to this registration statement. Item 8. Exhibits. The exhibits attached to this Registration Statement are listed in the Exhibit Index, which is found on page 8. Item 9. Undertakings (a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes: (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement. (2) To treat, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment as a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering. (b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Page -5- (c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on September 23, 2003. Nexia Holdings, Inc. By: /s/ Richard D. Surber ------------------------------------ Richard D. Surber, as President Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated. Signature Title Date --------- ----- ---- /s/ Richard D. Surber Director. September 23, 2003 ---------------------------- Richard D. Surber /s/ Gerald Einhorn Director. September 23, 2003 ---------------------------- Gerald Einhorn /s/ John Fry, Jr. Director. September 23, 2003 ---------------------------- John Fry, Jr. /s/ Adrienne Bernstein Director. September 23, 2003 ---------------------------- Adrienne Bernstein Page -6- SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 _________________ EXHIBITS TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 ___________________ Nexia Holdings, Inc. (a Nevada corporation) ___________________ Page -7- INDEX TO EXHIBITS ----------------- Exhibits SEC Ref. No. Description of Exhibit Page -------- ------------ ---------------------- ---- A 4 2003 Stock Benefit Plan of the Company 9 B 5, 23(b) Opinion and consent of Counsel with 13 respect to the legality of the issuance of securities being issued C 23(a) Consents of Accountants 16 Page -8-