Rules of Practice

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announces the adoption of comprehensive revisions to its Rules of Practice ("Rules"), the procedural rules that govern Commission administrative proceedings. Enforcement proceedings initiated by the Commission and review of disciplinary proceedings brought by self-regulatory organizations are among the most frequently occurring and significant proceedings governed by the Rules. Adoption of the Rules and the other actions taken today implement recommendations made by the Commission's Task Force on Administrative Proceedings in its final Report, entitled Fair and Efficient Administrative Proceedings. The Rules contain procedures implementing authority granted to the Commission by the Securities Enforcement Remedies and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990 to issue administrative temporary cease-and-desist and disgorgement orders. The Rules also implement revised procedures for the conduct of hearings, including simplified service of orders instituting proceeding, expanded use of prehearing conferences, codification of policies on the availability of certain investigation files to respondents in enforcement and disciplinary proceedings, issuance of subpoenas returnable prior to hearing and the consideration by administrative law judges of dispositive motions prior to hearing. In addition, the Rules contain revised procedures governing appeals to the Commission including various procedural requirements governing Commission review of self-regulatory determinations that were previously contained in part in Rules 19d-2 and 19d-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The revised Rules better facilitate full, fair and efficient proceedings by setting forth applicable procedural requirements more completely and in an easier to use format; by streamlining procedures that had become burdened with archaic requirements; and by the addition of provisions that address changes in statutory requirements, judicial and administrative case law developments, Commission policies, and litigation practices since the Rules were last revised. The Commission also announces the issuance of a statement of Informal Procedures and Supplementary Information Concerning Adjudicatory Proceedings. This statement establishes guidelines for the completion of key phases of contested adjudications; requires periodic case status reports that will formally apprise the Commission if an adjudicatory matter is pending for longer than specified periods of time, so that the Commission can determine whether additional steps are necessary to reach a fair and timely resolution of the matter; and provides for increased and more timely disclosure concerning the Commission's adjudicatory docket through the periodic publication in the SEC Docket of summary statistical information concerning changes in the Commission's case load.