On November 20th, the SEC announced it will host a conference on December 4th entitled "The State of Our Securities Markets". This conference will bring together current and former government officials and experts from different areas of the private sector as it explores the ever-changing economic, risk, and market environments. In addition, what these changes mean for the structure and function of the securities markets will be discussed. In particular, the conference with focus on macroeconomic trends (including their influence on capital markets), changes to the global equity and credit markets (including how today's markets are different from those of the early 2000s), and market concentration and fragmentation within certain areas of the securities market (including relevant causes and potential risks and effects).

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On November 19th, XBRL US released the Taxonomy Development Handbook for public review. The handbook is a comprehensive guide that directs regulators, industry experts, and businesses through a practical roadmap to building high quality data standards with XBRL. This freely available, foundational document takes readers through the necessary stages of standards development, including: 1) building the appropriate transport data model, 2) assessing project scope, including use cases and requirements, 3) establishing a governance structure, 4) documenting the standards program, and 5) the step-by-step mechanics of building the taxonomy. The handbook also contains an introduction to the XBRL financial data standard, templates to guide developers in documenting the taxonomy, and case studies of XBRL as a method of improving data reporting in various industries.

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On November 5th, the SEC proposed amendments to the rules concerning proxy solicitations and the exemptions from federal disclosure rules governing businesses dispensing proxy voting advice that should enhance the quality of disclosure about material conflicts of interest that are provided to clients. In addition, these proposed changes would provide for a period of review and feedback through which companies and other soliciting parties would be able to identify errors in their proxy voting advice. This review and feedback period would only be available to companies that file definitive proxy materials 25 days or more prior to the relevant meeting.

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The SEC will be closed Monday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day. The EDGAR System will not receive, process or accept filings on this day. Filings with a due date of November 11 will be due the following
business day.

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The SEC’s Division of Enforcement issued its yearly report for fiscal year 2019 on November 6th. This report explores the division’s efforts and initiatives on the behalf of investors. It also highlights significant actions and presents both qualitative and quantitative perspectives on the actions of the division during the previous fiscal year.

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On November 4th, the SEC proposed new amendments that would modernize rules under the Investment Advisers Act that focus on investment advisor advertisements and payments to solicitors. The proposed amendments are intended to update these rules to reflect changes in technology, the expectations of investors seeking advisory services, and the evolution of industry practices. These amendments would replace the current rules’ broadly drawn limitations with principles-based provisions such that certain investment adviser advertisements and payments to solicitors would be prohibited in some cases. The proposed approach would also permit the use of testimonials, endorsements, and third-party ratings, subject to certain conditions, and would include tailored requirements for the presentation of performance results based on an advertisement’s intended audience. The Investment Act rules in question for advertisements and solicitations have not been updated since their adoption in 1961 and 1979.

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On November 5, 2019, the SEC proposed amendments to Exchange Act Rule 14a-8, the shareholder proposal rule. This rule requires companies that are subject to the federal proxy rules to include shareholder proposals in their proxy statements, subject to certain procedural and substantive requirements. The proposed amendments seek to modernize the shareholder proposal rule by updating the criteria that a shareholder must satisfy to be eligible to require a company to include a proposal in its proxy statement and by updating the levels of shareholder support a proposal must receive to be eligible for resubmission at the same company’s future shareholder meetings.

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Staff at the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) at the SEC have released an announcement regarding the use of certain XBRL elements for revenue disclosures. Filers that have adopted Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) should be using the new elements related to this ASU to tag related revenue disclosures in their financial statements and notes. However, the staff has observed that filers instead are using outdated tags under the Accounting Standards Codification Topic 605, Revenue Recognition.

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The SEC is proposing to modernize filing fee disclosure as well as filing fee payment methods. These amendments would change most fee-bearing forms, schedules, statements, and related rules to require each fee table and accompanying disclosure to include all required information for fee calculation in a structured format. In addition, these amendments would allow for fee payment via Automated Clearing House (“ACH”), which would eliminate the need for fee payments via paper checks and money orders. These amendments are intended to improve filing fee preparation and payment processing by facilitating enhanced validation via fee structuring and lower-cost, easily routable payments through ACH.

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The SEC's Investor Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting on November 7th beginning at 9:30 am EST. The meeting, which is open to the public and free to attend, will take place in the Multipurpose Room at SEC Headquarters at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC. The Investor Advisory Committee was established to advise the SEC on regulatory priorities of securities products, trading strategies, fee structures, and the effectiveness of disclosure. In addition, the committee explores initiatives to protect investor interests and to promote investor confidence in the marketplace. Continue reading "SEC Investor Advisory Committee to Meet on..." »

On October 18th, the SEC voted to propose amendments to establish an expedited review procedure for applications under the Investment Company Act of 1940. These particular applications must be substantially identical to recent precedent. This is in addition to proposing a new informal procedure for applications that would not qualify for this expedited process. The changes are intended to make the application process more efficient as well as to provide additional certainty and transparency to the process. The SEC also intends that the staff of the Division of Investment Management will also begin publicly disseminating comments on applications and responses to those comments.

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