The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) is continuing to provide updates regarding its response to COVID-19 and the related effects on the securities markets. On Jan. 30, Chairman Jon Clayton first recommended that his staff monitor and provide guidance and other assistance to issuers and other market participants regarding disclosures related to the current and potential effects of COVID-19, and further statements followed in February and throughout March (for example, regarding virtual shareholder meetings,). An additional important statement that was issued earlier this month was an order that, subject to certain conditions (including the need for an 8-K or 6-K, as applicable, filing describing the delay and the reasons behind it) provides publicly traded companies with an additional 45 days to file certain disclosure reports that would otherwise have been due between March 1 and April 30, 2020. As recently as March 22, the SEC issued an order providing certain relief to transfer agents.
For more information and updates on the developing COVID-19 situation, visit GT’s Health Emergency Preparedness Task Force: Coronavirus Disease 2019.