Investment Information Page -- US Securities And Exchange Commission Information
Researchers and Librarians-Easy Access to Selected Securities and Investor Information at the SEC
Office of Investor Education and Assistance
Current Issues at the SEC
Enron, Hedge Funds, Sarbanes-Oxley, and more
http://www.sec.gov/spotlight.shtml
Official Documents and Reports
Releases
Press Releases
http://www.sec.gov/news/press.shtml
Rulemaking
http://www.sec.gov/rules.shtml
No Action Letters, Staff Accounting Bulletins, Staff Legal Bulletins
http://www.sec.gov/interps.shtml
Reports
Special Studies
http://www.sec.gov/news/studies.shtml
Annual Report of the SEC
http://www.sec.gov/about/annrep.shtml
Litigation, Decisions, Opinions, Enforcement Cases
Enforcement actions, opinions, briefs, trading suspensions, investors claims funds
http://www.sec.gov/litigation.shtml
Annual compilation of enforcement cases by category in the appendix of the SEC Annual Report
http://www.sec.gov/about/annrep.shtml
Accountants and Auditors
Information on the SEC's website for accountants and auditors
http://www.sec.gov/about/offices/oca.htm
Laws, Rules, Regulations
Rules and regulations are generally at volume 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations (17 CFR)
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html
Federal securities laws
http://www.sec.gov/about/laws.shtml
Securities Lawyer's Deskbook
http://www.law.uc.edu/CCL/index.html
Agency Rulemaking and Release Identification
Rulemaking Releases
- The agency may begin the rulemaking process by issuing a concept release.
- The agency may skip this process and instead issue a proposed rule.
- Concept releases and proposed rules are put out for notice and comment.
- After the notice and comment period on a proposed rule, the agency generally issues a final rule.
- Rules and releases appear in the Federal Register
Release Identification
- Press releases are numbered beginning with the year followed by a sequential number: 2004-1, 2004-2 …
- Rule releases have a 2-character prefix that tells which law the rule primarily involves:
- 1933 Act: 33-12345
- 1934 Act: 34-12345
- 1935 Act: 35-45678
- 1939 Act: 39-23456
- 1940 Investment Company Act: IC-12345
- 1940 Investment Advisers Act: IA-12345
- There maybe several act numbers assigned to a single release
Under the securities laws, the Commission can bring enforcement actions either in the federal courts or internally through an administrative proceeding. For federal court cases, the agency issues a "litigation release" to announce the filing and resolution of each lawsuit. Litigation releases always begin with the letters "LR" (for example, LR-12345). For administrative proceedings, there are four general types of releases:
- A notice of institution and/or settlement of administrative proceedings, which will have a sequential number containing 2-digit prefix that tells you which securities law the defendant allegedly violated (e.g., IA-1234, 34-1234);
- An initial decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ) in a contested case, which will have a sequential number (e.g., Initial Decision No. 1234 or ID-1234);
- A notice that an ALJ's initial decision has become final, which will have a new and different sequential number containing the 2-digit prefix (e.g., IA-5678, 34-5678); and
- A Commission order or opinion on appeal from an ALJ's initial decision, which will have another new and different sequential number with the 2-digit prefix (e.g., IA-91011, 34-91011).
Finding Company Information
EDGAR (SEC's Online Database of Company Reports)
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
How to Use EDGAR
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/quickedgar.htm
Corporate Reports, How to Get
http://www.sec.gov/answers/companyinfo.htm
Info About Some Companies Not Available at SEC
http://www.sec.gov/answers/noinfo.htm
Investor Information by Topic
http://www.sec.gov/investor.shtml
Investor Education Publications
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs_subject.shtml
Calculators for Investors
http://www.sec.gov/investor/tools.shtml
Check Out Your Broker
http://www.sec.gov/investor/brokers.htm
Pathfinders/Annotated Guides
Beginners' Guide to Investing
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/begininvest.htm
Beginners' Guide to Mutual Funds
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/beginmutual.htm
Guide to Identifying and Avoiding Securities Fraud
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/identavoidfraud.htm