SEC Adopts Amendments to Simplify Disclosure Requirements

The SEC adopted amendments to Regulation S-K, and related rules and forms, that are intended to reduce disclosure burdens on registrants.

The amendments, among other things:

• permit registrants to omit confidential information from material contracts and certain other exhibits without submitting a request to the SEC;

• modify and modernize rules and forms to streamline the SEC's disclosure framework;

• amend the description of property requirement to stress the "materiality threshold"; and

• enhance access to information by obligating data tagging for certain items on the cover pages of particular filings.

In addition, there are parallel amendments to rules and forms related to investment companies and investment advisers. These include requirements that mandate certain investment company filings to include a hyperlink to each exhibit and for exhibits to be filed in HTML format.

According to the SEC, the amendments are consistent with the SEC's mandate under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation ("FAST") Act. The SEC stated that the amendments are intended to "improve the readability and navigability of disclosure documents and discourage repetition and disclosure of immaterial information."

The amendments will be effective 30 days following their publication in the Federal Register. However, amendments with respect to the redaction of confidential information in specific exhibits will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.