The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is revising its electronic filing format for particular data collections to make it easier for filers to submit information and for data analyzers to use that information. This new rule, which was passed June 20, 2019, will modernize FERC’s data collection, which will in turn increase efficiency in regulatory filings and business information processing while furthering transparency and over time decreasing costs in preparing the data for submission.

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton announced that the SEC will hold two events for Main Street investors in Boston on Monday, July 8th. The first event is a roundtable hosted by Chairman Clayton with Main Street Investors that will focus on the SEC’s ongoing investor education efforts. The roundtable will explore issues relevant to Main Street investors, such as understanding important differences between investment advisers and broker-dealers. Other senior SEC staff will join the event.

On June 18th, the SEC adopted changes to the auditor independence rules with respect to the mandated analysis to determine if an auditor is independent when said auditor has a lending relationship with shareholders of an audit client. These changes were prompted by situations where existing rules capture relationships that otherwise do not bear on the impartiality and/or objectivity of the auditor. The amendments are designed to refine these rules to better focus on lending relationships that may reasonably influence an external auditor’s impartiality/objectivity. In doing so, the changes should improve the application of the Loan Provision to the benefit of investors while reducing compliance burdens.

The SEC has requested public comment on way to simplify and improve the exempt offering framework with the goal of expanding investment opportunities and promoting capital formation while maintaining appropriate investor protections. The Concept Release on Harmonization of Securities Offering Exemptions reviews the framework for exempt offerings, including several exemptions from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 that facilitate capital raising.

On June 10, 2019, the SEC updated its list of unregistered entities that use misleading information to solicit primarily non-US investors, adding 11 soliciting entities, four impersonators of genuine firms, and nine bogus regulators.

With compliance dates approaching, reviewing the SEC’s mandate for operating companies and funds that they report their financial information in Inline XBRL (iXBRL) is important. These requirements date back to June 2018, when the SEC passed rules seeking to modernize and simplify financial reporting for these filers. Unlike traditional XBRL which produces a XML document containing only tagged, structured data that is difficult for a human reader to understand and interpret, iXBRL involves embedding XBRL data directly into an HTML filing so that the disclosure document is both human-readable as a formatted report of financial information and machine-readable since the tagged data can be collected and used in subsequent analyses in any number of ways. Using iXBRL improves the data’s usefulness, timeliness, and quality, which benefits investors, regulators, market participants, and other data consumers. Inline XBRL also reduces burdens and complexity to registrants and preparers as only one document containing both the formatted report and the structured data must be produced.

New filers seeking access to EDGAR must now use an updated online version of the Form ID EDGAR access application. This change went into effect June 10, 2019. The updated online version of Form ID provides applicants with enhanced user functions that should facilitate users’ abilities to save, complete, and upload the notarized Form ID authentication document.

On June 5th, the SEC voted to adopt new rules and interpretations that were designed to enhance the quality and transparency of retail investors’ relationships with investment advisers and broker-dealers. This brings the legal requirements and mandated disclosures in agreement with reasonable investor expectations while preserving access to various investment services and products in terms of choice and cost. These actions are meant to clarify the standards of conduct applicable to broker-dealers and investment advisers, help retail investors better understand and compare offered services and make an informed choice of the relationship best suited to their needs and circumstances, and support better consistency in the level of protections provided by each regime, particularly when a recommendation is made. Specifically, the rules enhance consumer protections while ensuring choices in: 1) the type of professional with whom consumers work, 2) the services they receive, and 3) how they pay for these services.

Version 5.0a of all applications in the GoFiler Suite has been released. This release corresponds to EDGAR Release 19.2 and contains a number of improvements to XDX, a new edit window type for editing CSV and structured data sheets, a new look for the icons and buttons of the user interface, and a large underlying change to HTML editing. Additionally, this version contains support for the IFRS 2019 and DEI 2019 taxonomies.

On June 10, 2019, EDGAR Release 19.2 was released by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This release included new cover page tagging requirements for certain forms filed in Inline XBRL. Also new are a number of changes to Form MA and an enhanced “Application for EDGAR Access (Form ID)” that is available on the EDGAR Filer Management Website.