Three groups representing the interests of over 2,400 public companies have filed a rulemaking petition asking to reduce the Form 13F filing period to 5 business days. Submitted by The Society for Corporate Governance ("Society"), the National Investor Relations Institute ("NIRI"), and NYSE Group, Inc. ("NYSE"), the petition asks the SEC to modernize its disclosure rules under Section 13(f). Doing so, the petitioners say, would improve the usefulness of Form 13F filings and increase investor confidence in the securities markets.
Form 13F. Under Exchange Act Section 13(f), institutional investment managers are required to file a report on Form 13F if they exercise investment discretion over accounts holding an aggregate fair market value of at least $100 million on the last trading day of any month. The reports must be filed within 45 days of the last day of each calendar quarter, and managers may request extensions beyond that period.
2013 petition. The new petition follows up on a 2013 petition on the same topic. The 2013 petition argued that the 45-day filing period us unnecessarily long and keeps material information from reaching shareholders on a timely basis. In addition, the existing timeframe could encourage managers to use the 45-day period to delay reporting significant purchases or sales until long after the fact. The petition asked the Commission to shorten the reporting period to two business days after the end of the calendar quarter.
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