By: George M. Wilson, SEC Institute
We periodically post information from the FASB’s agenda to get a sense of the direction of accounting standard setting. When it comes to SEC rulemaking however it can be a bit harder to get a sense of what is in process. The SEC’s webpage does not have as straightforward a list of projects in process as the FASB’s agenda. The SEC’s agenda is compiled and included in the semiannual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions which is compiled by the Regulatory Information Service Center, a component of the U.S. General Services Administration along with the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
One issue in past SEC agenda setting is that the lists in the Unified Agenda were perhaps a bit of a “wish list” and might include more than could be done in the Unified Agenda’s regulatory one-year time horizon. The current leadership at the SEC has taken a different tack with this list and tried to build an agenda that can, hopefully, be accomplished in a one-year time horizon.
This agenda is maintained in the government’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. As you can see the agenda is not encyclopedic, but does touch on a variety of areas. It is also worth noting how many of the areas on the agenda deal with disclosure effectiveness and modernization.
| Agency | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking | Title | RIN |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Amendments to Financial Disclosures About Acquired Businesses | 3235-AL77 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Guide 3 Bank Holding Company Disclosure | 3235-AL79 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Amendments to Implement FAST Act Report | 3235-AM00 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers | 3235-AM06 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Amendments to the Financial Disclosures for Registered Debt Security Offerings | 3235-AM12 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Exchange-Traded Funds | 3235-AJ60 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Enhanced Disclosure for Separate Accounts Registered as Unit Investment Trusts and Offering Variable Annuities | 3235-AK60 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Personalized Investment Advice Standard of Conduct | 3235-AL27 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Amendments to Securities Act Rules Under the Fair Access to Investment Research Act of 2017 | 3235-AM24 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Transaction Fee Pilot | 3235-AM04 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Relationships With Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds | 3235-AM10 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Harmonization of Certain Title VII Rules | 3235-AM13 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Auditor Independence With Respect to Loans or Debtor-Creditor Relationships | 3235-AM01 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Proposed Amendment to Rule for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations | 3235-AM05 |
| SEC | Proposed Rule Stage | Amendments to the Commission’s Whistleblower Program Rules | 3235-AM11 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Treatment of Certain Communications Involving Security-Based Swaps That May be Purchased Only by Eligible Contract Participants | 3235-AL41 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Amendments to Interactive Data (XBRL) Program | 3235-AL59 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Modernization of Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants | 3235-AL81 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Disclosure Update and Simplification | 3235-AL82 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Amendments to Smaller Reporting Company Definition | 3235-AL90 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Investment Company Reporting Modernization; Option for Website Transmission of Shareholder Reports | 3235-AL42 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Amendments to Investment Advisers Act Rules to Conform to the FAST Act | 3235-AM02 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Regulation of NMS Stock Alternative Trading Systems | 3235-AL66 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Disclosure of Order Handling Information | 3235-AL67 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Covered Securities Pursuant to Section 18 of the Securities Act of 1933 | 3235-AM07 |
| SEC | Final Rule Stage | Amendments to Municipal Securities Rules | 3235-AL97 |
As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome!