SEC Modernization: Agenda for Fall 2021: Preparing Our Clients Now for Tomorrow

Public corporations take note: The next phase of the modernization of the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system – better known as EDGAR – is set to begin at the end of October. This will impact how your company’s financial documents are filed.

The repository of thousands of corporate filings -- such as 10Ks, 8Ks, 10Qs, proxy and registration statements – EDGAR helps ensure transparency in the securities markets.  

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hasn’t yet announced the details, but we expect major changes that will impact several aspects of the filing process – including security protocols to the fee system. The SEC is also changing the markup language used to file reports – from HTML to XML. Further, it will update the ciphers it supports in its Transport Layer Security (TLS) cryptographic protocol later this year. This is critical to help improve efficiency and security. And this will continue throughout the course of the modernization.

DFIN will be ready. As a leading filing agent, we work closely with the SEC and have allocated development resources to accommodate the changes when they are announced.

And there’s good news. We expect the SEC to provide a beta environment for filing agents to test their systems against the changes. The SEC is also providing a comment period before making any modifications are final. DFIN will take advantage of these opportunities to immerse ourselves in the process and master the changes.

What does this mean for our clients? That depends on how much of the filing process you handle yourselves. DFIN can handle every aspect of your filings. DFIN will take care of all the new requirements for you.

Stay tuned. Every day, DFIN helps ensure that clients’ filings are timely and accurate. It’s our passion. As we learn more about the next phase of the modernization, we will let our clients know any steps they need to take.