On January 19, 2021, the FERC announced that it is seeking public comment related to potential modifications to its methods for requiring financial assurance measures in hydroelectric licenses. These steps are meant to guarantee that licensees can satisfy license conditions and maintain their projects in a secure condition.
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On January 21, 2021, the SEC announced that it has amended its list of unregistered entities that use inaccurate data to solicit mainly non-US investors, adding 28 soliciting entities, six bogus regulators, and three impersonators of real firms. By revising the list of soliciting entities that have been the subject of investor complaints (referred to as the Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities (PAUSE) list), the agency can provide to the public information learned by reviewing tips, referrals, complaints, and other sources, so investors may be cautioned about potential fraud before they invest. Continue reading "SEC Updates List of Entities Using Inaccurate..." »

On January 11, 2021, the SEC announced that its Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee will hold a remote meeting on Friday, January 29, 2021. The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET and will be presented live via webcast on sec.gov for public viewing. The video conference will also be archived on the SEC’s webpage for later viewing. Members of the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee will review matters related to Release Nos. 33-10919 and 34-90882 and File No. 265-32 concerning rules and regulations affecting small and emerging companies and their investors under the federal securities laws. Continue reading "SEC Announces January 29 Virtual Meeting of the..." »

Version 5.6b of all applications in the GoFiler Suite has been released. This release contains a number of improvements to the Page View editor, including enhancements to the Image Size dialog and to fields.

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On January 15, 2021, the SEC issued the required notice concerning new fee rates under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The agency announced that starting on February 25, 2021, the fee rates related to most securities transactions will be set at $5.10 per million dollars. Fee rate advisories must be published within 30 days of the date on which an act making a regular appropriation for the applicable fiscal year is adopted. On December 27, 2020, the President enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, which includes total appropriations of $1,926,162,000 to the SEC for fiscal year 2021. Continue reading "Second Fee Rate Advisory for Fiscal Year 2021" »

On January 15, 2021, the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation announced that it will host its second annual Capital Call on Feb. 4, 2020, at 1 p.m. ET. The call, which is entitled “What’s Happening from Startup to Small Cap”, is freely open to the public and will explore current issues that impact small businesses and their investors. Continue reading "SEC’s Small Business Advocate to Hold Capital..." »

The SEC will be closed Monday, January 18 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. The EDGAR System will not receive, process, or accept filings on this day. Filings with a due date of January 18 will be due the following business day, which is Tuesday, January 19. Continue reading "Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr." »

On January 13, 2021, the SEC released a statement concerning Form 13H and filing issues due to Adobe Flash Player’s End of Life. Adobe officially discontinued support for Flash Player on December 31, 2020. Because of this, filers have been experiencing issues with filing Form 13H (and its variants). SEC staff are working on a technical fix. They expect to implement this fix no later than January 31, 2021.
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On December 22, 2020, the FERC released its Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering. Issuance of this annual report, now in its fifteenth year of publication, is required under section 1252(e)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The details presented in the report were drawn from the latest publicly available data (2018 data for retail markets and 2019 data for wholesale markets) that is used to gauge demand response potential. The report also contains FERC staff findings using non-public data to assess demand response activity in California during the summer 2020 when the state experienced four out of its five hottest August days since 1985. Continue reading "FERC Publishes 2020 Assessment of Demand..." »

The SEC has indicated that the EDGAR System will function as it usually does on Inauguration Day (Wednesday, January 20, 2021). There will be no disruption of service, as is the case on any normal business day.
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On December 22, 2020, the SEC voted to adopt amendments pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, revising rules that regulate investment adviser advertising and payments to solicitors. Drawing from and replacing the current advertising rule (Rule 206(4)-1) and cash solicitation rule (Rule 206(4)-3) is an amalgamated rule established by the amendments. The objective of the amendment is to enhance the SEC’s ability to effectively oversee investment advisers’ marketing communications. Continue reading "SEC Approves Revised Marketing Rule for..." »

The SEC voted on December 22, 2020 to take measures to further the enactment of security-based swap regulation pursuant to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These actions reflect the latest in the SEC’s continuous efforts to engage with multiple agencies and non-US counterparts and prepare for the registration of security-based swap dealers in 2021. Continue reading "SEC Issues Various Compliance Orders for France..." »

The SEC will be closed Friday, January 1 in observance of New Year’s Day. The EDGAR System will not receive, process, or accept filings on this day. Filings with a due date of January 1 will be due the following business day, which is Monday, January 4.

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The SEC released a statement and request for comment on December 23, 2020 that concerns the custody of digital asset securities by broker-dealers. This action was undertaken in order to encourage innovation around applying Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3 to digital asset securities. Continue reading "SEC Releases Statement on the Custody of..." »

On December 18, 2020, the SEC published the Annual Report on Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs) and the 2020 Summary Report of SEC Staff’s Examinations of Each Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization. The report, which generally concentrates on the period from June 26, 2019 to June 25, 2020, features a thorough summary of the Office of Credit Rating’s (OCR) assessments of the NRSROs, including the staff’s key findings and suggestions. Continue reading "SEC Publishes 2020 Office of Credit Rating Reports" »