SEC spring 2023 regulatory agenda: 37 rules in final stage

The agency’s spring 2023 rule list, released Tuesday by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, features 37 rules in the final stage, which is the option selected by regulators when they intend to adopt a rulemaking proposal within the next 12 months. The SEC did not provide specific dates for when it expects to finalize certain rules but set targets of October 2023 or April 2024.

Listed under October are the climate-related disclosure and cybersecurity risk governance rules. The rules, respectively proposed in the Federal Register in April and March of last year, are each of significant interest to companies given their requirements. The climate rule would force all public companies to quantify, measure, and disclose their effect on the environment, while the cyber rule would require companies to disclose data breaches four business days after they occur.

Other rules in the final stage include policies impacting conflicts of interest; special purpose acquisition companies; modernization of beneficial ownership reporting; short sale disclosures; and disclosures by investment advisers regarding environmental, social, and governance investment practices.

The agency’s list also includes 18 rules in the proposed stage, which signals its future rule change intentions. Rule changes being considered for proposal (or reproposal) include policies affecting incentive-based compensation arrangements, corporate board diversity, and human capital management disclosure.

“In every generation since President Franklin Roosevelt’s, our commission has updated its ruleset to meet the challenges of a new hour,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a statement. “Consistent with our legal mandate, guided by economic analysis, and informed by public comment, this agenda reflects the latest step in that long tradition. Thus, I am pleased to support it.”