The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will reopen comment periods on 11 rulemaking releases put forward over the past year because of a glitch in its online comment system.

Comments on several of the agencies most controversial rule proposals, including climate-related disclosures and reporting cybersecurity breaches within four business days, might have been lost as the result of a “technical error,” the agency revealed in a press release Friday. The SEC said most of the comments affected were submitted in August, but the error is “known to have occurred as early as June 2021.”

“To ensure that interested persons, including any affected commenters, have the opportunity to comment on the affected releases or to resubmit comments, the commission is reopening the comment periods for the affected releases until 14 days following publication of the reopening release in the Federal Register,” the agency stated.

Rule proposals affected include the following:

Also reopened was an agency request for comment on certain information providers acting as investment advisers. Comments regarding a handful of self-regulatory organization matters might have also been affected.

The SEC encouraged previous internet commenters to check and ensure their submissions were received and posted.

Kyle Brasseur is Editor in Chief of Compliance Week. His background includes expertise in user personalization with ESPN.com.

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