Confidential Treatment Process Gets Easier

The SEC has approved rule changes that significantly simplify the process for public companies to redact confidential information from the exhibits required to be filed as part of SEC reports and registration statements. These welcome changes were made as part of the FAST Act Modernization and Simplification of Regulation S-K rule amendments approved by the SEC in late March.

Although the confidential treatment process has been made easier, the substantive rules regarding when confidential information may be omitted from an exhibit have not changed and companies need to continue to exercise appropriate judgment at the time of filing to determine what information may be redacted.