Beginning in March, the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a series of orders addressing the impact of COVID-19 on public companies and providing welcome relief as businesses struggled to prepare and file their Exchange Act reports while adjusting to the pandemic. The SEC’s March 25 order provided public companies with a 45-day extension to file certain disclosure reports (primarily annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q) that would otherwise have been due between March 1 and July 1, 2020. However, the SEC has stated that “further extension of this relief is unnecessary.”
For most companies, this means a Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30 is due either Monday, Aug. 10 (accelerated filers), or Friday, Aug. 14, 2020 (non-accelerated filers). Although the typical five-day extension remains available, with August fast approaching, public companies must be prepared for the June 30 10-Q, including disclosure of the impact of COVID-19 on their business. For many companies, the second quarter results will be the first to be significantly impacted by the pandemic and in preparing MD&A, management should review carefully SEC Disclosure Guidance Topics No. 9 and No. 9A with respect to COVID-19.
If you have any questions regarding these reports or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent orders, please reach out to Christopher Hubbert (cjh@kjk.com / 216.736.7215) or any of our Corporate law professionals.