SEC Email Error May Disrupt Reporting Rule Change

An apparent typographical error in an email address provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have disrupted the public comment period for a proposed rule change that would reduce financial reporting requirements for publicly listed companies. The SEC proposed in May to allow companies to report financial results twice a year instead of quarterly. The agency directed the public to submit feedback to [email protected], but the correct address, as listed on the SEC's own instructions page and in previous rule proposals, is [email protected], including an "s."

The discrepancy was highlighted this week in a letter to the commission from the nonprofit investor advocate Better Markets. The letter, addressed to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, stated that the incorrect email address "undoubtedly deprived some members of the public of the opportunity to express their views on an extensive, far-reaching and dramatic change to corporate reporting that upends half a century of practice." The extent to which comments were misdirected to the "rule-comment" address instead of "rule-comments" is not precisely known.

Better Markets cited instances where individuals reported that their feedback sent to the "rule-comment" address had not appeared on the SEC's public comment portal. However, an SEC spokesperson told Fortune that both email addresses are valid and accepted for submitting public comments on the proposal. The spokesperson indicated that the agency is working to post the "large number of comments" received. A review by Fortune of SEC rule proposals suggests the agency has historically shown a preference for a specific feedback channel, though the exact nature of this preference was not fully detailed in the provided text.