Electronic Submission of Certain Material Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; Amendments Regarding the FOCUS Report

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission” or “SEC”) is amending its rules to require electronic filing or submission of certain forms and other filings or submissions that are required to be filed with or submitted to the Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and the rules and regulations under the Exchange Act. The amendments require the electronic filing or submission on the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system, using structured data where appropriate, for certain forms filed or submitted by self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”). The amendments require the information currently contained in Form 19b-4(e) to be publicly posted on the SRO’s website and remove the manual signature requirements for SRO proposed rule change filings. The Commission is also requiring that a clearing agency post supplemental material to its website. In addition, the Commission is amending rules under the Exchange Act and the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) to require the electronic filing or submission on EDGAR, using structured data where appropriate, of certain forms, reports, and notices provided by broker-dealers, security-based swap dealers, and major security-based swap participants. The amendments also require withdrawal in certain circumstances of notices filed in connection with an exception to counting certain dealing transactions toward determining whether a person is a security-based swap dealer. Finally, the Commission is allowing electronic signatures in certain broker-dealer filings, and amending the Financial and Operational Combined Uniform Single Report (“FOCUS Report”) to harmonize with other rules, make technical corrections, and provide clarifications.