The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced (available here) that it will hold a roundtable on July 18, 2019, to hear from investors, issuers and other market participants about short-termism’s impact on capital markets and whether the reporting system or other SEC regulations should be changed to address those concerns. The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET in the SEC’s headquarters and be open to the public in person and via live webcast on SEC.gov, as well as archived for later viewing. The agenda and access information are available here. The roundtable is related to a request for comment that the SEC published in December 2018, when the SEC announced it may be reconsidering quarterly reporting (our post about that SEC request for comment on quarterly reporting is available here).
What is the big debate? The short-termism debate focuses on whether certain regulations such as mandatory quarterly reporting dissuade public companies from long-term planning and dissuade private companies from going public at all, both of which may harm investors in the long run. The SEC wants to explore options that could reduce burdens on reporting companies associated with quarterly reporting while maintaining or enhancing appropriate investor protection. We will continue to monitor this developing area.
Special appreciation for Houston summer associate Benjamin Lefler’s assistance with this post.