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information about the SEC
What the SEC Does
- Established in 1934
- Administers the Securities Act of
1933 and Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 plus a number of
other pieces of securities legislation
Office
of
Chief
Accountant
- The Chief Accountant is appointed by the
Chairman of the SEC to be the principal adviser to the
Commission on accounting and auditing matters
- Assists
the Commission in executing its responsibility under the
securities laws to establish accounting principles
- Advises the SEC regarding
accounting problems and recommends courses of action
- drafts rules and regulations
governing the form and content of financial statements
- The Office of the Chief Accountant
is the principal liaison with the PCAOB.
Division of Corporate Finance
- Assists
the Commission in executing its responsibility to oversee
corporate disclosure of important information to the
investing public.
- Reviews registration statements,
annual reports to shareholders, Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and
documents filed with the SEC
- Monitors
the activities of the accounting profession, particularly
the FASB, that result in the formulation of generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
- Increasingly,
the Division also monitors the use by U.S. registrants of
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS),
promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board.
SEC has the legal authority to
prescribe accounting principles and procedures for companies
under its jurisdiction. Authority granted by Congress via the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.
SEC lacks funding, expertise and
personnel to develop accounting standards.
Has delegated the rule-making
(standards-setting) to private sector accounting bodies.
Policy Statement of the Securities and Exchange
Commission: "Reaffirming the Status of
the FASB as a Designated Private-Sector Standard
Setter"
SEC has influenced financial accounting and reporting practices
through
- its own filing requirements
- Regulation S-X, which governs the
form and content of financial statements
- Regulation S-K, containing non
financial statement disclosure requirements
- Accounting Series
Releases--Primarily used to explain accounting procedures and
set forth accounting and reporting guidelines. These releases
were discontinued in 1982 and codified into....
- Financial Reporting
Releases(FRR's)--No. 1 represents the codification of the
ASR's involving accounting and reporting
- Accounting and Auditing
Enforcement Releases (AAER's)--No. 1 represents the
codification of the ASR's relating to enforcement matters
- Staff Accounting Bulletins--present
interpretations and practices followed by the departments of
the SEC.
Staff Accounting Bulletins reflect the
Commission staff's views regarding accounting-related
disclosure practices. They represent interpretations and
policies followed by the Division of Corporation Finance and
the Office of the Chief Accountant in administering
the disclosure requirements of the federal securities laws.
Common
Forms filed by registrants with the Commission.
Form
10-K
This
is
the annual report that most reporting companies file with the
Commission.
It
provides a comprehensive overview of the registrant's
business.
The
report must be filed within 90 days after the end of the
company's
fiscal
year.
Form
10-Q
The
Form
10-Q is a report filed quarterly by most reporting
companies.
It
includes unaudited financial statements and provides a
continuing
view
of the company's financial position during the year.
The
report
must be filed for each of the first three fiscal quarters of
the
company's
fiscal year and is due within 45 days of the close of the quarter.
Form 8-K
This
is
the "current report" that is used to report the occurrence of
any
material
events or corporate changes which are of importance to
investors
or
security holders and previously have not been reported by
the
registrant.
It provides more current information on certain
specified
events
than would Forms 10-Q or 10-K.
Review
Questions
return to contemporary accounting
issues