{ "@context": "http://schema.org/", "@type": "Article", "author":"Erin Connors", "description":"The Securities and Exchange Commission released its semiannual regulatory agenda for 2023. Read the highlights Intelligize picked out.", "image":"https://www.intelligize.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/disco-balls-BW-crop1.png", "keywords":"sec regulatory agenda, beneficial ownership, board diversity, carbon emissions, CLIMATE CHANGE, cybersecurity, Disclosure, resource extraction, Scope 3 emissions, sec", "mainEntityOfPage":"Reflecting what Chair Gary Gensler described as a “need to modernize our ruleset, moving deliberately to update our rules in light of ever-changing technologies and business models in the securities markets,” the Securities and Exchange Commission last week released its semiannual regulatory agenda for 2023. It includes proposals held over from previous agendas and some new additions. We picked out some of the highlights. Climate Change Disclosure We’re entering the home stretch of instituting the ballyhooed requirements for corporate disclosure of environmental performance and risks related to climate change. The agenda indicates final action on the proposal should come in April. Note, however, that a handful of issues within the proposed rule still need clarity, including what to do about so-called Scope 3 carbon emissions. Cybersecurity Risk Governance Here’s another project where the end is in sight. The SEC has had disclosure guidance for cybersecurity in place for going on five years. Given the speed with which online threats evolve, it comes as little surprise the rule already needs an update. The changes, which address reporting of cybersecurity incidents and disclosure of cyber-related risks, should go final in April. Modernization of Beneficial Ownership Reporting We’ve told you in the past about the SEC’s push under Gensler to reform the process for investors to notify the public that they have taken major equity positions in publicly traded companies. The agency is also moving to change the formula for calculating ownership stakes to include interests in derivatives. Pushback from high-profile activist investors like Carl Icahn hasn’t slowed the progress of the proposal, which Gensler says is needed to mitigate “information asymmetries” among the investing public. Final action on the proposal should come in the next three months. Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers Mandated under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed in 2010, this project is in its third iteration since 2012. By “resource extraction issuers,” the SEC means companies involved in the oil and gas sector and the commercial development of other minerals, and the idea is for them to disclose information related to any payments made in the course of business to the federal government or foreign nations. The latest update on the rule sets a target of October for an actual proposal. Corporate Board Diversity A hot topic in the corporate governance world, but also a case of SEC rulemaking dragging on. Since 2016, the agency has batted around the notion of adding new layers to corporate disclosures on the diversity of their boards and director nominees. However, the SEC has delayed the release of an actual proposed rule multiple times, now pushing the target date for a proposal back six months from April to October.", "name":"Highlights of the New SEC Rulemaking Agenda", "potentialAction":"Request a Demo", "url":"https://www.intelligize.com/highlights-of-the-new-sec-rulemaking-agenda/" }
Photograph of skyscrapers with glass windows from the ground facing up to a blue sky

Month: January 2023

Reflective disco balls hanging from a ceiling

Highlights of the New SEC Rulemaking Agenda

Reflective disco balls hanging from a ceiling

Reflecting what Chair Gary Gensler described as a “need to modernize our ruleset, moving deliberately to update our rules in light of ever-changing technologies and business models in the securities markets,” the Securities and Exchange Com...

Read More
5 blocks on a table each with a different icon (from left to right): 3 books, clip-board to-do list, stick figure as a scale, magnifying glass, and a square with gears and a checkmark. Fingers go to pick up the block with the magnifying glass icon

No CAM Do: Fewer Critical Audit Matters Appearing in Reports

5 blocks on a table each with a different icon (from left to right): 3 books, clip-board to-do list, stick figure as a scale, magnifying glass, and a square with gears and a checkmark. Fingers go to pick up the block with the magnifying glass icon

Auditors are identifying fewer critical audit matters in the typical audit report, according to an analysis from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. At the same time, PCAOB also found that the number of audit reports communicatin...

Read More
A meerkat stands watch, stretching its neck as it stares into the distance, on lookout for predators.

Five Things for Companies to Watch in 2023

A meerkat stands watch, stretching its neck as it stares into the distance, on lookout for predators.

Last year at this time, we told you that companies should keep an eye out for developments in cryptocurrency regulation; corporate disclosure of environmental, social and governance issues; and COVID-19 pandemic-related human capital challe...

Read More