On April 6, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued two Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs) that clarify and address regulatory relief (COVID-19 Order) for certain Exchange Act filings.

C&DI 104.18 clarifies that a registrant that is unable to file the Part III information of its Form 10-K by the required 120-day deadline may avail itself of the relief provided by the COVID-19 Order as long as the 120-day deadline falls within the relief period specified in, and the registrant meets the conditions of, the COVID-19 Order. The C&DI summarizes the steps to be taken both for (1) a registrant that timely filed its annual report on Form 10-K, but did not rely on the COVID-19 Order and (2) a registrant that properly invoked the COVID-19 Order with respect to its Form 10-K by furnishing a Form 8-K, but was silent on its ability to timely file Part III information.

C&DI 112.02 states that a Canadian registrant filing under the SEC’s multijurisdictional disclosure system (MJDS) may properly rely on any applicable Canadian COVID-19-related relief for extension of its filing deadline with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and need not comply with the conditions for exemptive relief for the filing of its Form 40-F under the COVID-19 Order.