Statement of Support – Modernization of Filing Fees and Payment Methods

Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to modernize filing fee disclosure and payment methods. The Commission voted unanimously to modernize how filing fees are reported, calculated, and paid. I am pleased to support this final rule. It will allow the Commission and filers to more efficiently process certain forms and will provide easier and lower-cost options for payment of fees related to those forms.

Each year, the SEC processes thousands of filings from public companies and other issuers. Historically, SEC staff have manually calculated the fees associated with these forms. Further, filers themselves have had to input numbers manually, a process that invites opportunities for errors. Today’s rule will transition these forms to a structured data format. As a result, the SEC will be able to automatically detect errors and calculate fee amounts.

These updates, which will be phased in over the coming years, will make the filing process faster, less expensive, and more efficient for SEC staff and market participants.

I’d like to thank the staff for their hard work in making these important amendments, including Betsy Murphy and Mark Green in the Division of Corporation Finance; Dorothy McCuaig in the Office of General Counsel; Margaret McGuire in the Division of Enforcement; Amy Miller in the Division of Investment Management; Todd Canali and Jane Patterson in the EDGAR Business Office; Caryn Kauffman, Luba Dinits in the Office of Financial Management; Walter Hamscher in the Division of Economic Risk and Analysis; and Heather Slavkin Corzo and Corey Klemmer in the Office of the Chair.