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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
- Advises the SEC regarding accounting
problems
and recommends courses of action
- drafts rules and regulations
governing
the form
and content of financial statements
Division
of
Corporate Finance
- Reviews registration statements and
reports
filed with the SEC
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.
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.
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