In April 2020, Fenwick & West, together with two other
leading Silicon Valley-based law firms, submitted a formal
rule-making petition to the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting that the SEC adopt new rules
permitting the use of electronic signatures when executing
authentication documents. This petition noted the difficulties
presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and improvements in electronic
signature software technology, as well the routine use of
electronic signatures in the operations of companies prior to the
pandemic. Almost 100 public companies jointly submitted a letter in
support of our petition in June 2020.
On November 17, 2020, the SEC issued a release adopting amendments to Regulation
S-T and the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval
system (EDGAR) Filer Manual (EDGAR Filer Manual) to permit the use
of electronic signatures in connection with electronic filings on
EDGAR that are required to be signed. The new rules will
