Small Business Compliance Guides

The following small business compliance guides provide information on SEC rules that affect small entities, including rules related to offering and selling securities as well as financial and other reporting by publicly traded companies. 

The small business compliance guides speak as of their respective dates of publication.  For up-to-date information on capital raising options, such as Regulation A and Regulation Crowdfunding, and the exemptions from registration provided under SEC rules, click on the tabs under “Resources for Small Businesses” to the left.

• EDGAR Filer Access and Account Management
• Tick Sizes
• Insider Trading Arrangements and Related Disclosures
• Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, Shell Companies, and Projections
• Prohibition Against Conflicts of Interest in Certain Securitizations
• Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure
• Amendments to Electronic Recordkeeping Requirements for Broker-Dealers
• Listing Standards for Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation
• Tailored Shareholder Reports for Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds; fee information in investment company advertisements
• Enhanced Reporting of Proxy Votes by Registered Management Investment Companies; Reporting of Executive Compensation Votes by Institutional Investment Managers
• Pay vs. Performance
• Proxy Voting Advice
• Updating EDGAR Filing Requirements and Form 144 Filings
• Universal Proxy
• Filing Fee Disclosure and Payment Methods Modernization
• Investment Adviser Marketing
• Facilitating Capital Formation and Expanding Investment Opportunities by Improving Access to Capital in Private Markets
• Good Faith Determinations of Fair Value
• Use of Derivatives by Registered Investment Companies and Business Development Companies
• Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses
• Procedural Requirements and Resubmission Thresholds under Exchange Act Rule 14a-8
• Amendments to Accredited Investor Definition
• Modernization of Regulation S-K Items 101, 103, and 105
• Exemptions from the Proxy Rules for Proxy Voting Advice
• Financial Disclosures about Guarantors and Issuers of Guaranteed Securities and Affiliates Whose Securities Collateralize a Registrant’s Securities
• Securities Offering Reform for Closed-End Investment Companies
• Accelerated Filer and Large Accelerated Filer Definitions
• Solicitations of Interest Prior to a Registered Public Offering
• Form CRS Relationship Summary; Amendments to Form ADV
• Regulation Best Interest
• Auditor Independence With Respect to Certain Loans or Debtor-Creditor Relationships
• FAST Act Modernization and Simplification of Regulation S-K
• Covered Investment Fund Research Reports
• Disclosure of Hedging by Employees, Officers and Directors
• Disclosure Update and Simplification
• Operating Company Inline XBRL Filing of Tagged Data
• Open-End Management Investment Company Inline XBRL Filing of Tagged Data
• Amendments to the Smaller Reporting Company Definition
• Optional Internet Availability of Investment Company Shareholder Reports Rules
• Exhibit Hyperlinks and HTML Format
• Amendment to Securities Transaction Settlement Cycle
• Intrastate Offering Exemptions (Rules 147 and 147A)
• Rule 504 of Regulation D
• Investment Company Liquidity Risk Management Program Rules
• Investment Company Reporting Modernization Rules
• Investment Company Swing Pricing
• Form ADV and Investment Advisers Act Rules
• Changes to Exchange Act Registration Requirements to Implement Title V and Title VI of the JOBS Act
• Small Entity Compliance Guide for Regulation Crowdfunding Issuers
• Funding Portal Registration Guide
• Amendments to Regulation A
• August 2014 Amendments to Existing Rules and New Rules That Apply to Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, Providers of Due Diligence Services for Asset-Backed Securities, and Issuers and Underwriters of Asset-Backed Securities in Accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
• References to Ratings of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations
• Registration of Municipal Advisors
• Amendments to Financial Responsibility Rules for Broker-Dealers
• Eliminating the Prohibition Against General Solicitation and General Advertising in Rule 506 and Rule 144A Offerings
• Disqualification of Felons and Other "Bad Actors" from Rule 506 Offerings and Related Disclosure Requirements
• Broker-Dealer Reports
• Filing and Amending a Form D Notice
• Identity Theft Red Flags Rules
• Advisers Act Rule 206(3)-3T (Temporary Rule Regarding Principal Trades with Certain Advisory Clients)
• Rule 6a-5
• Conflict Minerals Disclosure
• Disclosure of Payments By Resource Extraction Issuers
• "Accredited Investor" Net Worth Standard
• Facilitating Shareholder Director Nominations
• Interactive Data for Financial Reporting
• Revisions to the Cross-Border Tender Offer, Exchange Offer, Rights Offerings, and Business Combination Rules and Beneficial Ownership Reporting Rules for Certain Foreign Institutions
• Filing and Amending a Form D Notice
• Plain English Handbook (How to create clear SEC disclosure documents)
• Revisions to Form S-11 to Permit Historical Incorporation by Reference
• Electronic Shareholder Forums
• Revisions to Rules 144 and 145
• Primary Offerings of Securities on Forms S-3 and F-3
• Changeover to the SEC's New Smaller Reporting Company System by Small Business Issuers and Non-Accelerated Filer Companies
• Exchange Act Rule 14a-8(i)(8) (Placing shareholder proposals in proxy statements of SEC reporting companies)

Information on SEC rules relating to the small entities listed in the left column below may be located through the link to the information provided by the SEC operating division or office listed in the corresponding right column.