The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking the public’s input after adopting interim final amendments related to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act).
The SEC noted its actions focus on the implementation of congressionally mandated submission and disclosure requirements of the Act, adding
interim final amendments will apply to registrants the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report on Forms 10-K, 20-F, 40-F, or N-CSR with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm located in a foreign jurisdiction.
Before any registrant complies with the interim final amendments, the SEC must implement a process for identifying such a registrant and is seeking public comment on the identification process, per authorities.
The HFCA Act requires the SEC to issue rules within 90 days of the date of enactment to establish the manner and form registrants must comply with the documentation submission requirement – and the SEC is issuing the interim final amendments to comply with the 90-day deadline.
SEC officials said an assessment process is presently underway to determine the best manner of implementing other requirements of the HFCA Act not subject to the 90-day deadline, which includes the identification process and the trading prohibition requirements.