Members of the SEC’s staff will host a roundtable on November 15 to hear investor, issuer, and other market participant views about the proxy process and rules. This roundtable will focus on key aspects of the proxy system in the US, including proxy voting mechanics and technology, the shareholder proposal process, and the role and regulation of proxy advisory firms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to release EDGAR 18.3 in October 2018. The EDGAR Filer Manual (Volume II) will also be updated to Version 48 with this release. These changes will take effect on October 1 if approved (for non-rule based changes; see the SEC Final Rules posted here for rule-based changes and their implementation dates).

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that in fiscal year 2019 the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the Commission will be set at $121.20 per million dollars.

On August 20th, the SEC adopted amendments to improve transparency in the municipal securities market by better informing investors about the current financial condition of issuers of municipal securities and obligated persons. These amendments concern Rule 15c2-12 of the Securities Exchange Act and focus on the material financial obligations that could influence an issuer’s liquidity, overall creditworthiness, or an existing security holder’s rights.

On August 17th, the SEC voted to approve amendments to certain disclosure requirements that have become duplicative, overlapping, or outdated. These changes were proposed in light of other disclosure requirements, modifications to US-GAAP, or developments in the information environment. The SEC is also referring to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) particular disclosure requirements that overlap with but require information incremental to GAAP. These requirements will be considered for incorporation into US GAAP.

The SEC proposed rule amendments on July 24th to simplify and streamline the financial disclosure requirements applicable to registered debt offerings. These debt offerings are for guarantors and issuers of guaranteed securities, as well as for affiliates whose securities collateralize a registrant’s securities. The proposed amendments pertain to Rules 3-10 and 3-16 of Regulation S-X.

On July 18th, the SEC announced it will adopt amendments to Regulation ATS to enhance operational transparency and regulatory oversight of alternative trading systems (ATSs). This pertains to such systems that trade stocks listed on a national securities exchange (NMS Stock ATSs).