New shares are typically offered to the public through an issuing house. An issuing house is a type of financial institution that specializes in helping companies raise capital by issuing new securities, such as stocks and bonds, to investors. The issuing house plays a key role in underwriting the new securities, which means that it agrees to buy a certain number of shares or bonds from the company at a predetermined price, and then sells them to the public. The stock exchange is a marketplace where securities are bought and sold, but it is not typically involved in the initial offering of new shares.