On July 18th, the SEC issued final rules to amend the Securities Act Rule 701. Rule 701 provides an exemption from registration for securities issued by non-reporting companies pursuant to compensatory arrangements. The amendment increases the threshold of aggregate sales price or amount of securities sold in excess of which the issuer is required to deliver additional disclosures from $5 million to $10 million, in accordance with the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.

On July 9, 2018, EDGAR Release 18.2 was released by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This release contains a number of changes to various EDGAR forms as well as support for the IFRS 2018 XBRL taxonomy.

During the June 28th Open Meeting, the SEC voted to expand the definition of “smaller reporting companies” (SRC) to allow for more companies to qualify for certain existing scaled disclosure accommodations. The SRC category was established in 2008 in an effort to provide greater regulatory relief for smaller companies, as SRCs can provide scaled disclosures under Regulations S-K and S-X.

The SEC voted on June 28th, 2018 to adopt amendments to public liquidity-related disclosure requirements for certain open-end funds. These funds must now discuss in their annual or semi-annual shareholder reports the operation and effectiveness of their liquidity risk management programs. This requirement replaces a quantitative end-of-period discussion of historic aggregate liquidity classification data for fund portfolios as part of Form N-PORT.

On June 28, 2018, the SEC voted to adopt amendments to the XBRL reporting requirements that would require registrants to use the Inline XBRL format for the submission of financial statement information and fund risk/return summary information.

On June 28, 2018, the SEC held an open meeting in which they presented several final, approved rules and new rule proposals. Taken together, these changes represent progress toward many of the Commission’s priorities.

On June 19, 2018, the SEC published a draft strategic plan that focuses on investors, innovation, and performance as top strategic goals in the coming years. This draft will guide the SEC’s policies and priorities through fiscal year 2022.

On May 31, 2018 the XBRL US Center for Data Quality has released the sixth set of rules to provide guidance and aid for issuers in identifying errors in their XBRL SEC filings. The Data Quality Committee rules aim to help filers limit mistakes and avoid data inconsistencies that can adversely affect analysis of reported financial information. The sixth release of rules includes guidance for issuers using either the US-GAAP or IFRS taxonomies.

On June 5, 2018, the SEC voted to improve the experience of investors who invest in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and other investment funds by releasing the Investment Company Disclosure and Delivery Rulemaking Package. This package contains three separate but related releases that are part of a long-term project led by the Division of Investment Management to explore the modernization of the design, delivery, and content of fund disclosures.

On May 23, 2018, the SEC proposed new rules and amendments that would promote research on mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, registered closed-end funds, business development companies, and similar investment funds. These changes would reduce obstacles often encountered in providing research on investment funds by aligning the treatment of such reports with research on other public entities. The Congressional mandate of the Fair Access to Investment Act of 2017 (FAIR ACT) underlies the SEC’s actions in proposing these changes.

On May 1st, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement released answers to frequently asked questions concerning the Share Class Selection Disclosure (SCSD) Initiative. This initiative was announced earlier this year on February 12th with the goal of protecting advisory clients from undisclosed conflicts of interest and aid in returning money to those investors affected by previous undisclosed conflicts of interest.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a package of rulemakings and interpretations designed to enhance the quality and transparency of investors’ relationships with investment advisers and broker-dealers. These changes will also preserve access to a variety of types of advice relationships and investment products. Generally, the proposed regulations would enhance investor protection by applying consistent principles to investment advisers and broker-dealers that provide for clear disclosures, encouraging exercising due care, and addressing conflicts of interest.

On April 17, the SEC announced that the fee rates applicable to most securities transactions will be set at $13.00 per million dollars starting on May 22, 2018. The reduction in the fee rate is partly due to the higher dollar amount of covered sales in recent months.

With the last EDGAR release, the Securities and Exchange Commission updated EDGAR to accept the US GAAP 2018 taxonomy among other new taxonomies. It’s always a good practice to transition your SEC filings as soon as possible when the SEC accepts the new taxonomy year.