On August 26th, the SEC announced the first fee rate advisory for the fiscal year 2021, which will go into effect on October 1, 2020. Under this new rate, the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the SEC will be set at $109.10 per million dollars, a drop from $129.80 per million dollars. Continue reading "First Fee Rate Advisory for Fiscal Year 2021" »

On August 26th, the SEC announced that it will be carefully monitoring the effects of Hurricane Laura on investors and capital markets. As the SEC tracks the storm’s developments, it will consider easing regulatory requirements and extending filing deadlines for those affected by the storm.
Continue reading "SEC Closely Observing Impact of Hurricane Laura..." »

On August 19th, the SEC voted to overturn a rule exception that allowed a proposed national market system (NMS) plan fee amendment to become effective upon filing before review and comment by investors and other market participants. The fee exception contained in Rule 608(b)(3)(1) of Regulation NMS allowed a fee amendment to become effective immediately upon filing with the SEC, and an NMS plan could start charging the new fee before an opportunity for public comment and without SEC action. Also, Rule 608 did not include specific timelines for public notice and SEC action on NMS plan proposals. Continue reading "SEC Issues New Ruling to Ensure Public Notice,..." »

On August 24th, the SEC proposed a new rule to aid in its administration of EDGAR. This new rule (Regulation S-T Rule 15 under General Rules and Regulations for Electronic Filings) should allow the SEC to continue to promote the integrity and reliability of EDGAR submissions at a time when submissions to the system are rapidly increasing in volume.
Continue reading "SEC Proposes New Rule to Aid in Its..." »

Version 5.4b of all applications in the GoFiler Suite has been released. This release contains additional protections and features to deal with the EDGAR system issues that are occurring for many filers. Additionally, this release has a new Tidy HTML function and new processing in XDX to override the presentation on which facts created by an engram will appear. There have also been a number of improvements to the general application to further improve the handling of large files or files with long lines and to reorganize tools on the Edit Ribbon.

Continue reading "New Release (5.4b) for the GoFiler Family of..." »

Market instability due to COVID-19 and the pandemic’s impact on normal business operations may have increased the risks associated with investing in the modern securities marketplace. The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) has identified a number of COVID-19-related issues relevant to SEC-registered investment advisers and broker-dealers (“firms”) and has released a risk alert exploring these topics. The purpose of the risk alert is to share some of these observations with firms, investors, and the public.
Continue reading "COVID-19 Compliance Risks and Considerations..." »

On August 5th, the SEC released procedures that create a staff-led process to nominate candidates for appointment to the Investor Advisory Committee. A nominating committee comprised of individuals from across the SEC’s divisions and offices will identify candidates for vacancies on the Investment Advisory Committee. Initially, this nominating committee will be chaired by Robert Marchman, Senior Policy Advisor for Diversity and Inclusion.
Continue reading "SEC Provides Transparency to How Candidates Are..." »

Recently the SEC has been deploying significant technical upgrades to the EDGAR system. As a result, there have been unexpected performance issues which are inconveniencing filers. The SEC is aware of these issues and is working to resolve them.
Continue reading "EDGAR Technical Updates" »

On August 5th, the SEC proposed comprehensive modifications to the mutual fund and exchange-traded fund disclosure framework. These funds are registered on Form N-1A (called “open-end funds”). The proposed disclosure framework would feature concise and visually engaging shareholder reports that would highlight pertinent information that retail investors use to monitor their fund investments. As a central component of the SEC’s investor experience initiative, the proposal responds to comments the SEC received in 2018 concerning retail investors’ experience with fund disclosure. Continue reading "SEC Proposes to Modernize Fund Shareholder..." »