17 CFR Part 229, Subpart 229.1000 - Mergers and Acquisitions (Regulation M-A)

We are proposing amendments based on the recommendations made in the staff's Report on Modernization and Simplification of Regulation S-K, as required by Section 72003 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. The proposed amendments are intended to modernize and simplify certain disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K, and related rules and forms, in a manner that reduces the costs and burdens on registrants while continuing to provide all material information to investors. The amendments are also intended to improve the readability and navigability of disclosure documents and discourage repetition and disclosure of immaterial information. To provide for a consistent set of rules to govern incorporation by reference and hyperlinking, we are also proposing parallel amendments to several rules and forms applicable to investment companies and investment advisers, including proposed amendments that would require certain investment company filings to be submitted in HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”) format.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is publishing interpretive guidance to assist registrants in preparation of their pay ratio disclosures required by Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is extending the comment period for its request for comment seeking public input as to the disclosures called for by Industry Guide 3, Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies. The original comment period is scheduled to end on May 8, 2017. The Commission is extending the time period in which to provide the Commission with comments until July 7, 2017. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the issues and prepare their comments.

We are adopting technical amendments to conform several rules and forms to amendments made to the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) by Title I of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act. To effectuate inflation adjustments required under Title I and Title III of the JOBS Act, we are also adopting new rules that include an inflation-adjusted threshold in the definition of the term “emerging growth company” as well as amendments to adjust the dollar amounts in Regulation Crowdfunding.

The Commission is publishing this request for comment to seek public input as to the disclosures called for by Industry Guide 3, Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies. The financial services industry has changed dramatically since Guide 3 was first published. Consequently, our disclosure guidance may not in all cases reflect recent industry developments or changes in accounting standards related to financial and other reporting requirements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is extending the comment period for a proposal to amend certain of its disclosure requirements that may have become redundant, duplicative, overlapping, outdated, or superseded, in light of other Commission disclosure requirements, U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”), International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), or changes in the information environment [Release No. 33-10110; 34-78310; IC-32175; 81 FR 51607 (July 13, 2016)]. The release also solicits comment on certain Commission disclosure requirements that overlap with, but require information incremental to, U.S. GAAP to determine whether to retain, modify, eliminate, or refer them to the Financial Accounting Standards Board for potential incorporation into U.S. GAAP. The original comment period is scheduled to end on October 3, 2016. The Commission is extending the time period in which to provide the Commission with comments until November 2, 2016. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the issues and prepare their comments.

We are proposing amendments that would require registrants that file registration statements and periodic and current reports that are subject to the exhibit requirements under Item 601 of Regulation S-K, or that file on Forms F-10 or 20-F, to include a hyperlink to each exhibit listed in the exhibit index of these filings. To enable the inclusion of such hyperlinks, the proposed amendments would also require that registrants submit all such filings in HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”) format.

The Commission is requesting public comment on certain disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K relating to management, certain security holders, and corporate governance matters contained in Subpart 400. This request is part of an initiative by the Division of Corporation Finance to review the disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K to consider ways to improve them for the benefit of investors and registrants. Comments received in response to this request for comment will also inform the Commission's study on Regulation S-K, which is required by Section 72003 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (“FAST Act”).

The Securities and Exchange Commission is extending the comment period for a release proposing revisions to the property disclosure requirements for mining registrants and related guidance [Release Nos. 33-10098 and 34-78086 (June 16, 2016)], published June 27, 2016. The original comment period is scheduled to end on August 26, 2016. The Commission is extending the time period in which to provide the Commission with comments until September 26, 2016. This action will allow interested persons additional time to analyze the issues and prepare their comments.

We are proposing amendments to certain of our disclosure requirements that may have become redundant, duplicative, overlapping, outdated, or superseded, in light of other Commission disclosure requirements, U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”), International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), or changes in the information environment. We are also soliciting comment on certain Commission disclosure requirements that overlap with, but require information incremental to, U.S. GAAP to determine whether to retain, modify, eliminate, or refer them to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) for potential incorporation into U.S. GAAP. The proposed amendments are intended to facilitate the disclosure of information to investors, while simplifying compliance efforts, without significantly altering the total mix of information provided to investors. These proposals are part of an initiative by the Division of Corporation Finance to review disclosure requirements applicable to issuers to consider ways to improve the requirements for the benefit of investors and issuers. We are also issuing these proposals as part of our efforts to implement title LXXII, section 72002(2) of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.

We are proposing amendments to the definition of “smaller reporting company” as used in our rules and regulations. The proposed amendments, which would expand the number of registrants that qualify as smaller reporting companies, are intended to promote capital formation and reduce compliance costs for smaller registrants, while maintaining investor protections. Registrants with less than $250 million in public float would qualify, as would registrants with zero public float if their revenues were below $100 million in the previous year.

We are proposing revisions to the property disclosure requirements for mining registrants, and related guidance, currently set forth in Item 102 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and in Industry Guide 7. The proposed revisions are intended to provide investors with a more comprehensive understanding of a registrant's mining properties, which should help them make more informed investment decisions. The proposed revisions would also modernize the Commission's disclosure requirements and policies for mining properties by aligning them with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards. In addition, we are proposing to rescind Industry Guide 7 and include the Commission's mining property disclosure requirements in a new subpart of Regulation S-K.

This release makes technical corrections to rules that were published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2014 (79 FR 57184). The Commission adopted revisions to Regulation AB and other rules governing the offering process, disclosure, and reporting for asset-backed securities. These technical amendments are being published to restore rule text that was inadvertently changed, revise outdated cross-references, and make other technical corrections.

The Commission is publishing this concept release to seek public comment on modernizing certain business and financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K. These disclosure requirements serve as the foundation for the business and financial disclosure in registrants' periodic reports. This concept release is part of an initiative by the Division of Corporation Finance to review the disclosure requirements applicable to registrants to consider ways to improve the requirements for the benefit of investors and registrants.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) is adopting interim final amendments to its rules and forms to implement Sections 71003 and 84001 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (“FAST”) Act, which require that the Commission revise Forms S-1 and F-1 to permit emerging growth companies to omit financial information for certain historical periods and revise Form S-1 to permit forward incorporation by reference for smaller reporting companies.

We are adopting amendments to Item 402 of Regulation S-K to implement Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 953(b) directs the Commission to amend Item 402 of Regulation S-K to require disclosure of the median of the annual total compensation of all employees of a registrant (excluding the chief executive officer), the annual total compensation of that registrant's chief executive officer, and the ratio of the median of the annual total compensation of all employees to the annual total compensation of the chief executive officer. The disclosure is required in any annual report, proxy or information statement, or registration statement that requires executive compensation disclosure pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K. The disclosure requirement does not apply to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies, or foreign private issuers.

We are proposing a new rule and rule and form amendments to implement the provisions of Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which added Section 10D to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Section 10D requires the Commission to adopt rules directing the national securities exchanges and national securities associations to prohibit the listing of any security of an issuer that is not in compliance with Section 10D's requirements for disclosure of the issuer's policy on incentive-based compensation and recovery of incentive-based compensation that is received in excess of what would have been received under an accounting restatement. The proposed rule and rule amendments would direct the national securities exchanges and national securities associations to establish listing standards that would require each issuer to develop and implement a policy providing for the recovery, under certain circumstances, of incentive-based compensation based on financial information required to be reported under the securities laws that is received by current or former executive officers, and require the disclosure of the policy. A listed issuer would be required to file the policy as an exhibit to its annual report.

We are proposing amendments to Item 402 of Regulation S-K to implement Section 14(i) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), as added by Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). Section 14(i) directs the Commission to adopt rules requiring registrants to disclose in a clear manner the relationship between executive compensation actually paid and the financial performance of the registrant. The proposed disclosure would be required in proxy or information statements in which executive compensation disclosure pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K is required. The proposed disclosure requirements would not apply to emerging growth companies or foreign private issuers.

We are proposing amendments to our rules to implement Section 955 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires annual meeting proxy statement disclosure of whether employees or members of the board of directors are permitted to engage in transactions to hedge or offset any decrease in the market value of equity securities granted to the employee or board member as compensation, or held directly or indirectly by the employee or board member. The proposed disclosure would be required in a proxy statement or information statement relating to an election of directors, whether by vote of security holders at a meeting or an action authorized by written consent.

This release makes technical corrections to rules that were published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2014. The Commission adopted revisions to Regulation AB and other rules governing the offering process, disclosure, and reporting for asset-backed securities. These technical amendments are being published to reinstate language that was inadvertently removed and make other technical corrections.

We are adopting significant revisions to Regulation AB and other rules governing the offering process, disclosure, and reporting for asset-backed securities (“ABS”). The final rules require that, with some exceptions, prospectuses for public offerings under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and ongoing reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) of asset-backed securities backed by real estate related assets, auto related assets, or backed by debt securities, including resecuritizations, contain specified asset-level information about each of the assets in the pool. The asset-level information is required to be provided according to specified standards and in a tagged data format using eXtensible Markup Language (“XML”). We also are adopting rules to revise filing deadlines for ABS offerings to provide investors with more time to consider transaction-specific information, including information about the pool assets. We are also adopting new registration forms tailored to ABS offerings. The final rules also repeal the credit ratings references in shelf eligibility criteria for ABS issuers and establish new shelf eligibility criteria.

On February 25, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission re-opened the comment period on two releases related to asset-backed securities. The Commission re-opened the comment period to permit interested persons to comment on an approach for the dissemination of potentially sensitive asset-level data. The comment period is scheduled to end on March 28, 2014. In light of public interest in providing comment on the approach, the Commission is extending the comment period until April 28, 2014 to permit interested persons additional time to analyze and comment on the approach.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is re-opening the comment period on two releases, Asset-Backed Securities, Securities Act Release No. 33-9117 (Apr. 7, 2010), 75 FR 23328 (the “2010 ABS Proposing Release”) and Re-Proposal of Shelf Eligibility Conditions for Asset-Backed Securities, Securities Act Release No. 33-9244 (July 26, 2011), 76 FR 47948 (the “2011 ABS Re-Proposing Release”). The Commission is re-opening the comment period to permit interested persons to comment on an approach for the dissemination of potentially sensitive asset-level data. This approach is discussed in a staff memorandum included in the public comment file.

We are proposing amendments to Item 402 of Regulation S-K to implement Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 953(b) directs the Commission to amend Item 402 of Regulation S-K to require disclosure of the median of the annual total compensation of all employees of an issuer (excluding the chief executive officer), the annual total compensation of that issuer's chief executive officer and the ratio of the median of the annual total compensation of all employees to the annual total compensation of the chief executive officer. The proposed disclosure would be required in any annual report, proxy or information statement or registration statement that requires executive compensation disclosure pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K. The proposed disclosure requirements would not apply to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies or foreign private issuers.

Notice is hereby given of the publication of technical amendments to Guide 3, Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies (“Industry Guide 3”), and Guide 7, Description of Property by Issuers Engaged or to be Engaged in Significant Mining Operations (“Industry Guide 7”), of the Securities Act of 1933 Industry Guides (“Industry Guides”). These revisions are to conform the Industry Guides to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification TM (“FASB Codification”).