SEC Disclosure Simplification Amendments Effective November 5, 2018

The staff of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance guidance states that the disclosure simplification amendments will be effective for SEC reports and registration statements filed on or after the effective date, although the SEC staff guidance indicates that the staff will not object if a company initially complies with the amended requirement to present changes in shareholders’ equity in its first Form 10-Q quarterly report for the quarter that begins after November 5, 2018.

With the effective date of the disclosure simplification amendments now certain, companies preparing to file Form 10-Q quarterly reports for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, should determine whether the company will file its Form 10-Q quarterly report on or after November 5. If the company will file this report on or after November 5, the company should:

• consider deferring implementation of the requirement to present changes in shareholders’ equity with the interim financial statements to be contained in the Form 10-Q quarterly report, as described in our earlier client alerts; and

• reflect the other disclosure simplification amendments described in our September 12, 2018 client alert in its upcoming Form 10-Q quarterly report unless the staff issues further interpretive guidance.