In May the SEC adopted rule amendments that require reporting companies to disclose in their periodic reports more detailed information about their repurchases of equity securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. The SEC expects that the additional disclosures will provide investors with “clearer insights” into why and how issuers undertake share repurchases. The disclosures will draw increased investor scrutiny of repurchase programs as well as stock sales by officers and directors during a repurchase program.

The share repurchase disclosure requirements apply to all corporate issuers, including foreign private issuers, with a registered class of equity securities. The amended rules require issuers to disclose each quarter, in a tabular format, quantitative data regarding repurchases during the quarter, aggregated on a daily basis. The new disclosure will replace the current quarterly reporting of aggregated monthly repurchase data.