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Securities: Regulations & Agencies

This guide is designed to help find federal and state securities laws information.

Securities & Exchange Commission

The SEC website, www.SEC.gov, is a great place to start federal securities research. This free resource includes information about the commission including rules of practice and forms as well as EDGAR filings, regulatory actions, staff interpretations and administrative law judge decisions. It also has links to pertinent laws and regulations

EDGAR Filings

All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free from the SEC.gov website. You can also access this information from subscription databases as well. 

Regulations

Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. It is organized chronologically.

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is annual publication of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. 

Both resources can be found in a variety of resources, found below. 

 

Frequently Filed Forms

Below are the types of documents that can be filed with the SEC. This list is not exhaustive. The SEC has an introductory FORMS LIST but a more comprehensive  INDEX TO FORMS.
 
 
•Periodic Reports
   10-K; 10-Q; 20-F; 18-K; N-1R; N-1Q
 
•Corporate Changes & Voting Issues
   8-K; 10-C; Proxy Statements
 
•Registration of Securities
   S-1 through 6; S-8; S-11N1-A; N-2; N-5; NSAR; F-1 F-610
 
•Tender Offers/Going Private
   13D; 13E-3; 13E-4; 14D-1; TO
 
 
•Unscheduled Material Event
   8K; 10C
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