FLASH FRIDAY: EDGAR System Celebrates 30 Years

FLASH FRIDAY is a weekly content series looking at the past, present and future of capital markets trading and technology. FLASH FRIDAY is sponsored by Instinet, a Nomura company.

February 2023 marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, which cost around two million lives, and the 100th anniversary of British archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun. There was also another anniversary during the month which is undoubtedly far less well-known – the 30th anniversary of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s 1993 rulemaking to implement the EDGAR system for electronic filings. 

Mark Uyeda, SEC Commissioner, said in a Feb. 22 statement that the regulator should reevaluate whether the EDGAR framework best serves filers and investors in the current era of 24-hour news cycle and remote work, especially as many more filings are from around the world in different time zones.

Uyeda argued that it is long past time for the SEC  to review its rules on EDGAR submission dates, hours, and deadlines, with feedback from filers, investors, and other participants as the system plays a key role in disseminating material information to the marketplace. 

He asked:

1. Should EDGAR be able to accept electronic submissions on Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays?
2. Is the current 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time EDGAR submission period appropriate?
3. What other forms, if any, should have their filing deadline extended from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, or another time?
4. Are filers outside of the Eastern Time zone, and particularly foreign filers, disadvantaged by the current submission hours and filing deadlines?

EDGAR is vital in a market that requires quarterly reporting and the efficient dissemination of information must surely play a small part in enhancing liquidity and making US capital markets more attractive. Not that they need any help. The UK has been gnashing its teeth as soft­ware group WANdisco, build­ing mater­i­al sup­plier CRH and chip manufacturer Arm have all recently chosen to list shares in New York. Arm was a particularly high-profile loss as a number of Prime Min­is­ters have tried to persuade the chip maker’s owner, Soft­Bank, to list it in London.

An improved EDGAR will only make the US even more attractive.