Last month, the Staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that, as part of the Division’s ongoing efforts to facilitate capital formation, all issuers are now permitted to submit draft registration statements relating to IPOs and Exchange Act Section 12(b) registration (e.g., spin-offs) to the Staff for nonpublic (i.e., confidential) review.

Previously, nonpublic review was available only to emerging growth companies (EGCs), as authorized by the JOBS Act, and in certain circumstances to foreign private issuers. Nonpublic submission of registration statements makes it possible for companies to avoid alerting the market of offering plans before the company is certain that it will move forward with any offering.Continue Reading SEC Extends Confidential Review of Certain Registration Statements to Non-EGCs

Recently, the SEC adopted technical amendments for self-executing provisions of the JOBS Act—mostly relating to EGCs.

One important update that impacts virtually all companies is the update related to amending the cover pages for numerous filings. Broadly speaking, the cover page has been revised to include a “check the box” item to indicate that the person filing the report is an “emerging growth company” and an additional box to check as follows: “If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.”

Continue Reading Effective Today – New EGC “Check the Box” on Cover Pages of Most SEC Forms, including 8-K, S-1/3/4/11 and 10-K/Q