Yesterday, the SEC announced that it would hold a public meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2019 to consider whether to propose amendments to the “accelerated filer” and “large accelerated filer” definitions to promote capital formation for smaller reporting companies.
Last summer, the SEC adopted amendments to expand the number of smaller reporting companies that qualify for scaled disclosure. Among the adopted amendments was an increase in the public float threshold for smaller reporting companies from $75 million to $250 million. However, when the SEC adopted the higher $250 million threshold, it left the definitions of accelerated filer and large accelerated filer unchanged. As a result, companies with $75 million or more of public float that now qualify as smaller reporting companies under the amended rules still remain subject to the requirements that apply to accelerated filers, including shorter filing deadlines for periodic reports and the requirement that accelerated filers provide an auditor’s attestation of management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting.
Stay tuned for further updates.