The SEC announced that it is providing conditional regulatory relief for certain publicly traded company filing obligations under the federal securities laws.  The impacts of the coronavirus may present challenges for certain companies that are required to provide information to trading markets, shareholders, and the SEC. These companies may include U.S. companies located in the affected areas, as well as companies with operations in those regions.

To address potential compliance issues, the Commission has issued an Order that, subject to certain conditions, provides publicly traded companies with an additional 45 days to file certain disclosure reports that would otherwise have been due between March 1 and April 30, 2020.

In connection with the Order, the Commission staff will take the following positions with respect to certain obligations under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act:

• For purposes of eligibility to use Form S-3 (and for well-known seasoned issuer status, which is based in part on Form S-3 eligibility), a company relying on the exemptive Order will be considered current and timely in its Exchange Act filing requirements if it was current and timely as of the first day of the relief period and it files any report due during the relief period within 45 days of the filing deadline for the report.
• For purposes of the Form S-8 eligibility requirements and the current public information eligibility requirements of Rule 144(c), a company relying on the exemptive Order will be considered current in its Exchange Act filing requirements if it was current as of the first day of the relief period and it files any report due during the relief period within 45 days of the filing deadline for the report.
• Companies that receive an extension on filing Exchange Act annual reports or quarterly reports pursuant to the Order will be considered to have a due date 45 days after the filing deadline for the report. As such, those companies will be permitted to rely on Rule 12b-25 if they are unable to file the required reports on or before the extended due date.

The Order applies to registrants (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2) subject to the reporting requirements of Exchange Act Section 13(a) or 15(d), and any person required to make any filings with respect to such a registrant.  Such persons are exempt from any requirement to file or furnish materials with the Commission under Exchange Act Sections 13(a), 13(f), 13(g), 14(a), 14(c), 14(f), 15(d) and Regulations 13A, Regulation 13D-G (except for those provisions mandating the filing of Schedule 13D or amendments to Schedule 13D), 14A, 14C and 15D, and Exchange Act Rules 13f-1, and 14f-1, where the conditions below are satisfied.

The conditions to be satisfied are:

• The registrant or any person required to make any filings with respect to such a registrant is unable to meet a filing deadline due to circumstances related to COVID-19;
• Any registrant relying on the Order furnishes to the Commission a Form 8-K or, if eligible, a Form 6-K by the later of March 1 or the original filing deadline of the report stating:
  • that it is relying on the Order;
  • a brief description of the reasons why, it could not file such report, schedule or form on a timely basis;
  • the estimated date by which the report, schedule, or form is expected to be filed;
  • if appropriate, a risk factor explaining, if material, the impact of COVID-19 on
  • its business; and
  • if the reason the subject report cannot be filed timely relates to the inability of any person, other than the registrant, to furnish any required opinion, report or certification, the Form 8-K or Form 6-K shall have attached as an exhibit a statement signed by such person stating the specific reasons why such person is unable to furnish the required opinion, report or certification on or before the date such report must be filed.
• The registrant or any person required to make any filings with respect to such a registrant files with the Commission any report, schedule, or form required to be filed no later than 45 days after the original due date; and
• In any report, schedule or form filed by the applicable deadline pursuant to the immediately preceding bullet point, the registrant or any person required to make any filings with respect to such a registrant must disclose that it is relying on the Order and state the reasons why it could not file such report, schedule or form on a timely basis.

The Order also provides that a registrant or any other person is exempt from the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules thereunder to furnish proxy statements, annual reports, and other soliciting materials, as applicable (the “Soliciting Materials”), and the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules thereunder to furnish information statements and annual reports, as applicable (the “Information Materials”), where the conditions below are satisfied.

The conditions to be satisfied are:

• The registrant’s security holder has a mailing address located in an area where, as a result of COVID-19, the common carrier has suspended delivery service of the type or class customarily used by the registrant or other person making the solicitation; and
• The registrant or other person making a solicitation has made a good faith effort to furnish the Soliciting Materials to the security holder, as required by the rules applicable to the particular method of delivering Soliciting Materials to the security holder, or, in the case of Information Materials, the registrant has made a good faith effort to furnish the Information Materials to the security holder in accordance with the rules applicable to Information Materials.