SEC Modernizes And Simplifies Disclosure And Compliance Requirements

On March 20, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rule changes, as mandated by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), to modernize and simplify the disclosure and compliance obligations of SEC reporting companies. Below is a brief overview of the more notable rule changes.¹

Exhibits

Redaction of Contract Terms Without a Confidential Treatment Request (Reg. S-K Items 601(b)(2) and (10)). The revised rules related to the use of confidential treatment, which are expected to substantially reduce compliance costs, reflect a fundamental change in the process that companies must follow to redact commercially sensitive terms from agreements filed as exhibits to SEC filings. In particular, the SEC has eliminated the requirement that companies redacting information from an exhibit filing submit with the SEC a formal letter, known as a confidential treatment request, outlining their legal and factual support for the redacted