On August 26, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that starting October 1, 2020, the fees that public companies and other issuers must pay to register securities with the SEC will be set at $109.10 per million dollars of securities registered. This is a reduction from the rate for 2020 of $129.80.
Background
The securities laws require the SEC to make annual adjustments to the rates for fees paid under Section 6(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 13(e) and 14(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC must set rates for the fees paid under Section 6(b) to levels that the SEC projects will generate collections equal to annual statutory target amounts. The SEC’s projections are calculated using a methodology developed in consultation with the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget. As directed by the statute, the SEC determined the statutory target amount for fiscal year 2021 to be $709,554,300 by adjusting the fiscal year 2020 target collection amount of $705 million for the rate of inflation. The annual adjustment to the fee rate under Section 6(b) also sets the annual adjustment to the fee rates under Sections 13(e) and 14(g).
By law, the annual rate changes for fees paid under Section 6(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 13(e) and 14(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 must take effect on the first day of the government’s fiscal year. Therefore, effective October 1, 2020, the Section 6(b) fee rate applicable to the registration of securities, the Section 13(e) fee rate applicable to the repurchase of securities, and the Section 14(g) fee rates applicable to proxy solicitations and statements in corporate control transactions will decrease to $109.10 per million dollars from $129.80 per million dollars. The Section 6(b) rate is also the rate used to calculate the fees payable with the Annual Notice of Securities Sold Pursuant to Rule 24f-2 under the Investment Company Act of 1940.