Yesterday, the SEC announced that it adopted rules to facilitate electronic submission of documents. Welcome news to many, the Commission adopted rule amendments to permit the use of electronic signatures used in connection with many documents filed with the Commission. The Commission also adopted rule amendments to require electronic filing and service of documents in administrative proceedings. Here’s an excerpt from the Commission’s press release about use of electronic signatures:
Today’s amendments permit a signatory to an electronic filing who follows certain procedures to sign an authentication document through an electronic signature that meets certain requirements specified in the EDGAR Filer Manual. In addition, the Commission amended certain rules and forms under the Securities Act, Exchange Act, and Investment Company Act to allow the use of electronic signatures in authentication documents in connection with certain other filings when these filings contain typed, rather than manual, signatures.
Back in April, I blogged about the rulemaking petition requesting the Commission amend rules under Reg S-T to permit use of electronic signatures when filing documents with the SEC — the SEC’s press release says that nearly 100 public companies joined in support of the petition. With electronic signatures being more the norm these days, these amendments will make things simpler, especially as many continue working remotely. The electronic signature rule amendments will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
-Lynn Jokela, TheCorporateCounsel.net November 18, 2020
