Focus On Disclosure Effectiveness

In December 2013, the staff of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) issued its report on the Review of Disclosure Requirements in Regulation S-K (the S-K Study). As we noted in a, previous publication though the S-K Study indicated an intention to implement "disclosure reform," many aspects of the initiative were uncertain. In a recent speech before the ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting (a transcript of which can be found here), however, Corp Fin Director Keith Higgins, reported that the SEC Chair, Mary Jo White, has tasked Corp Fin to develop specific recommendations for updating the disclosure requirements, and he also outlined the path forward for the newly minted "disclosure effectiveness" project. In doing so, he called on companies to participate in the process by improving their disclosure now.