SEC Statements On Capital Markets Amid Covid-19
On June 25, 2020, SEC Chair Jay Clayton gave testimony before the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services on the topic of capital markets and emergency lending in the Covid-19 era. The next day, on June 26, Chair Clayton, William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, Dalia Blass, Director of the Division of Investment Management and Brett Redfearn, Director of the Division of Trading and Markets issued a public statement on the same topic but expanded to include efforts to ensure the orderly function of U.S. capital markets.
Chair Clayton Testimony
Chair Clayton breaks down his testimony over five topics including: (i) market monitoring and regulatory coordination; (ii) guidance and targeted assistance and relief; (iii) investor protection, education and outreach efforts; (iv) ongoing mission-oriented work; and (v) the SEC’s fiscal-year 2021 budget request.
Market Monitoring and Regulatory Coordination
Despite the extraordinary volumes and volatility we have seen
Disclosures Related To COVID-19 – SEC Updates
Last week the SEC Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) made a public statement on the importance of high-quality financial reporting for investors in light of Covid-19 on the same day that the Division of Corporation Finance issued an updated Disclosure Guidance Topic No. 9A on operations, liquidity, and capital resources disclosures related to the virus. Disclosure Guidance Topic No. 9A supplements the previously issued Topic No. 9 (see HERE) and follows the SEC’s virtual Investor Advisory Committee (“IAC”) meeting where investors testified as to additional information that should be relayed to the capital markets by public companies (see HERE).
OCA Statement on Financial Reporting
On April 3, 2020, the SEC Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) made its first public statement on the importance of high-quality financial reporting for investors in light of Covid-19. At that time, many companies were in the process of preparing Q1 results and reports. Now that Q2 is coming to a
Disclosures Related To COVID-19
The SEC has been reiterating the need for robust disclosures related to the impact of COVID-19 on publicly reporting companies. In the last few weeks I have written about some of the guidance issued by the SEC including Disclosure Guidance Topic No. 9. Since that time the SEC has continued to issue guidance in the form of public statements. This blog will summarize the SEC guidance and statements on disclosures up to date, and include a sample risk factor for inclusion in SEC reports.
Public Statement by Chair Jay Clayton and Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, William Hinman
On April 8, 2020, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and William Hinman, the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, issued a joint public statement on the importance of disclosure during the COVID-19 crisis.
Before I get into summarizing the statement, my personal thought is that although there are many reasons why disclosure is important, including the basic premise that the
