On August 23rd, the SEC announced that it is adopting rule amendments to an exemption from Section 15(b)(8) of the Exchange Act. Under Section 15(b)(8), a broker or dealer registered with the SEC must join a national securities association unless the broker or dealer makes transactions in securities specifically on an exchange of which it is a member. Presently, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the only registered association. The SEC initially proposed these amendments in March 2015 and subsequently re-proposed the amendments in July 2022. Continue reading "SEC Amends Rules Regarding Exemption From..." »

On July 12, Novaworks hosted a helpful virtual seminar to show filers in the utilities and energy industries a simple and cost-effective way to prepare and submit Form 6Q to the FERC in the required XBRL format. This webinar is now available to view on YouTube.com. Continue reading "Novaworks’ Webinar on Filing Form 6Q to the..." »

SEC staff will hold an open meeting via webcast on sec.gov on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The meeting will focus on private fund and investment advisor compliance, is free, and open for the public to attend. {expires: 2023-08-24} Continue reading "SEC’s Division of Investment Management and..." »

The SEC’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) has announced that it has concluded its assessment of the way filers are tagging write-offs for their credit quality indicator disclosures in their Form 10-K and their allowance for credit loss. The assessment was conducted only on those filers that have financing receivables and follow Accounting Standards Codification (ASC), Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures, a set of accounting standards that modernized the way entities measure credit losses on financial instruments published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in March 2022. Continue reading "SEC Issues Findings on Tagging Allowance for..." »

On July 31st, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released a proposed Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that would require public companies to provide disclosures in financial statements about that company’s expenses that would help investors make informed decisions concerning investments. Investors benefit greatly by understanding a company’s performance, assessing a company’s prospects for future cash flows, and having the ability both to observe a company’s performance over time and to compare with that of other companies. Continue reading "FASB Issues Proposed ASU to Enhance Income..." »

The SEC is proposing new rule amendments under Section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to eliminate, or neutralize the effect of, certain conflicts of interest when broker-dealers or investment advisers (collectively known as “firms”) interact with investors using covered technology. Covered technology refers to a firm’s use of analytical, technological, or computational functions, algorithms, models, correlation matrices, or similar methods or processes that optimize for, predict, guide, forecast, or direct investment-related behaviors or outcomes of an investor. Continue reading "SEC Proposes Reforms to Mitigate Risks to..." »

The SEC has announced that it is adopting rule amendments to improve and standardize disclosures for cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incidents by public companies subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In particular, the SEC is adopting rules and rule amendments that will require current disclosure about material cybersecurity incidents. Continue reading "SEC Adopts Rules on Public Company..." »

On July 26th, the SEC announced that it is proposing amendments to the rule that allows certain investment advisers that provide investment advisory services through the internet to register with the SEC. In 2002, the SEC granted a narrow exception which allowed internet-based advisers to register with the SEC instead of with the states. Investment advisers typically are prohibited from registering with the SEC unless they reach a certain “assets under management” threshold, advise a registered investment company, or qualify for an exemption under SEC rules or statutes. Under rule 203A-2(e) and pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, internet investment advisers are exempt from this prohibition if they meet certain conditions, including those concerning the adviser’s use of an interactive website to advise clients. Continue reading "SEC Proposes Internet Adviser Registration Reforms" »

The FERC, in conjunction with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), will hold a conference via webcast on ferc.gov on Thursday, August 10, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT. The meeting will cover topics pertaining to the physical security of the Bulk-Power System. The conference is free and open for the public to attend but registration is required. {expires: 2023-08-11} Continue reading "FERC, NERC to Host Joint Physical Security..." »

XBRL US will host a conference this November in Washington, DC to discuss the passage of legislation related to the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) and the Grants Reporting Efficiency and Transparency (GREAT) Act. XBRL US will address the ways governments can learn about data standards and how they increase efficacy and modernize financial reporting. The event will also feature case studies related to federal standards programs implemented by the SEC, the FERC, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Continue reading "XBRL US Opens Registration for GovFin 2023:..." »

On July 17th, the SEC announced that it has released a draft version of the Shareholder Repurchase (SHR) XBRL Taxonomy and accompanying taxonomy guide. In May 2023, the SEC approved amendments to its rules to update and enhance transparency concerning repurchases of an issuer’s equity securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Continue reading "SEC Issues Draft 2023 Share Repurchase (SHR)..." »

The FERC staff will hold its monthly open meeting via webcast on ferc.gov on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The one-hour meeting is open for the public to attend. {expires: 2023-07-28} Continue reading "FERC to Hold Its Monthly Open Commission Meeting" »

On July 17, 2023, the SEC announced that it updated SEC.gov stylesheets for Forms 4 and 5, which will be implemented with EDGAR Release 23.2.1. More specifically, the checkbox introduced in Release 23.1—to allow filers to determine whether the reported transaction was subject to a contract, instruction or written plan intended to meet the conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c)—has been moved from above Table 1 to the upper left corner of the stylesheet. There have been no new changes made to Forms 4 and 5. Continue reading "EDGAR Release 23.2.1" »

On July 17th, the SEC announced that its staff has issued its first semi-annual report to Congress concerning the public and internal use of machine-readable data for corporate disclosures. Continue reading "SEC Staff Issues First Semi-Annual Report to..." »

On July 12th, the SEC announced proposed rules that would amend and enhance Rule 15c3-3 (the rule that protects a customer’s cash and securities held at a carrying broker-dealer). The rules would require certain broker-dealers to increase the frequency with which they perform customer and broker-dealer reserve computations of the net cash they owe to customers and other broker-dealers (referred to as PAB account holders) from weekly to daily. Performing these computations with increased frequency would better correspond with the inflows, swings, and balances that broker-dealers currently are experiencing in the markets. Under Rule 15c3-3, carrying broker-dealers are required to have a special reserve bank account at a bank that must hold cash or qualified securities in an amount determined by a computation of the net cash owed to the carrying broker-dealer’s customers and PAB account holders. Continue reading "SEC Proposes Amendments to the Broker-Dealer..." »