TheCorporateCounsel.net

Even before SEC Chair Gary Gensler was officially confirmed to his current office, people were predicting that Section 13(d) reform would be high on his list of priorities. Yesterday, the SEC announced that it is proposing amendments to Regulation 13D-G. If adopted, the primary impact of the amendments would be to accelerate the filing deadline for Schedule 13D and 13G reports – to address the concern over “information asymmetry” that John blogged about last month.

This is a welcome development for the contingent of folks who think the current rules are outdated – see this 2011 WLRK petition, for example. If this proposal is adopted, it’ll be the most significant amendment to Regulation 13D-G since the rules were adopted in 1968.

Here’s the 193-page proposal – and here’s the 2-page fact sheet. The fact sheet explains that the proposal would:

– Accelerate the filing deadlines for Schedules 13D and 13G beneficial ownership reports – generally, from 10 to 5 days for Schedule 13D and from 45 days from the end of the year to 5 business days from the end of the month for Schedule 13G;

– Expand the application of Regulation 13D-G to certain derivative securities;

– Clarify the circumstances under which two or more persons have formed a “group” that would be subject to beneficial ownership reporting obligations; and

– Require that Schedules 13D and 13G be filed using a structured, machine-readable data language.

Chair Gensler issued a statement in support of the proposal. But not everyone is celebrating. Commissioner Peirce, who doesn’t share the view that information asymmetry is a problem in this context, issued a dissenting statement. We’ll be posting memos about this proposal in our “Schedules 13D & 13G” Practice Area. Comments are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register or April 11th, whichever is later.

– Liz Dunshee