The SEC will hold a public seminar June 4th beginning at 10:00 a.m. EDT to discuss the reporting rules and the XBRL taxonomy for open-end mutual funds.

The compliance date for open end mutual funds is January 1, 2011 and requires them to comply with new rules to file data in the risk/return summary section of the prospectus using XBRL.

The full SEC press release is available at: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-71.htm

Effective April 1, 2010, the Section 31 transaction fee rate will be set at $16.90 per million.

Securex has a fee rate calculator to assist in the calculation of fees applicable to your SEC registration statement. The free tool is available at:  http://secfile.net/fee_calculator.htm

A copy of the SEC release follows:

Washington, D.C., March 1, 2010 – Pursuant to Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Commission has determined that a mid-year adjustment to the Section 31 transaction fee rate is necessary.  Effective on April 1, 2010, the Section 31 transaction fee rate will be set at $16.90 per million.

The Exchange Act requires the Commission to adjust the Section 31 fee rate if it estimates that the baseline estimate of dollar volume that was used to calculate the annual adjusted rate for fiscal year 2010 is reasonably likely to be 10 percent (or more) greater or less than the actual dollar volume of securities transactions for fiscal year 2010.  The Commission determined the mid-year adjustment using a methodology developed in consultation with the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, as required by Section 31(j)(2) of the Exchange Act.  This methodology used market projections based on the most recent information on dollar volume of securities transactions thus far in fiscal year 2010.  A copy of the Commission’s order and calculation methodology is available at http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/2010/34-61605.pdf .

This rate change does not apply to the Section 31 assessment on security futures transactions, which will remain at the current rate of $0.0042 per round turn transaction.

The Office of Interpretation and Guidance in the Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets is also available for questions on Section 31 at (202) 551-5777, or by e-mail at tradingandmarkets@sec.gov.  In addition, useful guidance on Section 31 can be found on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/sec31feesbasicinfo.htm and http://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/sec31info.htm.

The Commission will announce the fiscal year 2010 rates for fees paid under Section 6(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 13(e), 14(g), and 31 of the Exchange Act no later than April 30, 2010.  Those rates will become effective on Oct. 1, 2010, or 30 days after the date on which the Commission receives its fiscal year 2011 regular appropriation, whichever date comes later.

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The SEC just release information on an upcoming seminar which will include a webcast to help companies comply with XBRL reporting.  The full press release follows:

SEC Staff to Hold Seminar to Help Companies Comply With XBRL Reporting Rules

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2010-25

Washington, D.C., Feb. 23, 2010 — Securities and Exchange Commission staff will conduct a public seminar next month to help companies and preparers comply with rules that require financial reports to be filed using eXtensible Business Reporting Language, (XBRL), which can provide investors quicker access to the data they want in a format that’s easily used, searched and analyzed.

The seminar will help answer frequently asked questions about the rules and technology requirements. SEC staff will present information to help corporate filers understand how to comply with the rules.

SEC staff also will provide an overview of the XBRL taxonomy — the list of tags associated with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). Staff also will discuss the recently announced role of the Financial Accounting Foundation in maintaining that taxonomy in conjunction with its GAAP standard-setting activities. SEC staff will provide guidance on other tools and information available to assist with compliance.

To ensure that the seminar is responsive to the needs of companies and preparers, the SEC staff is seeking suggested questions and topics to be discussed at the seminar. Interested parties should e-mail their questions to Ask-OID@sec.gov and include “Public Education Seminar” in the subject line.

The seminar will be held on March 23 beginning at 1 p.m. ET in the auditorium at the SEC’s headquarters (100 F Street N.E. in Washington D.C.). The event also will be webcast on the SEC Web site.

Seating for the seminar will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities attending this event in person can be arranged by submitting a request to DisabilityProgramOfficer@SEC.gov three business days prior to the event. Captioning will provided on the SEC webcast.

For additional information about the seminar, contact Ask-OID@sec.gov or (202) 551-4144.

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area will continue to be closed Thursday, February 11th due to severe weather conditions.  The EDGAR system will not be closed and is still available to accept file  submissions until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday.

Additional details are available at: http://www.opm.gov/status/

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area will continue to be closed Wednesday, February 10th due to severe weather conditions.  The EDGAR system will not be closed and is still available to accept file  submissions until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday.

Additional details are available at: http://www.opm.gov/status/

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area will be closed Tuesday, February 9th due to severe weather conditions.  The EDGAR system will not be closed and is still available to accept file  submissions until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday.

Additional details are available at: http://www.opm.gov/status/

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area will be closed Monday, February 8th due to severe weather conditions.  The EDGAR system will not be closed and is still available for file submissions until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Monday

Additional details are available at: http://www.opm.gov/status/

The SEC will be closing early today, February 5th due to severe weather conditions in the Washington D.C. area. Staff at the SEC and other federal agencies in the Washington metropolitan area are being dismissed by their agencies 4 hours earlier than their normal departure time. The EDGAR system will not be closing and is still available for file submissions until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.

Additional details are available at: http://www.opm.gov/status/

In January 2010, the SEC staff issued a small entity compliance guide on oil and gas reporting to assist smaller companies in implementing the new reporting requirements under the SEC final rule, Modernization of Oil and Gas Reporting.  The final rule modernizes and updates the oil and gas disclosure requirements to align them with current practices and changes in technology.  The guide summarizes and explains rules adopted by the SEC, but is not a substitute for a rule itself.  Only a rule itself can provide complete and definitive information regarding its requirements.  The final rule is effective for registration statements filed on or after January 1, 2010, and for annual reports on Forms 10-K and 20-F for fiscal years ending on or after December 31, 2009.

The small entity compliance guide on oil and gas reporting includes an overview of the following information from the SEC final rule.

Changes to Oil and Gas Definitions in Rule 4-10 of Regulations S-X

The guide describes revisions to the following oil and gas definitions resulting from the final rule:

• Average price
• First-of-the month pricing
• Reliable technologies
• Nontraditional resources
• Eliminate “certainty” test
• Supporting definitions

Consolidation of Disclosure Requirement in Subpart 1200

The guide describes how the final rule resulted in the creation of Subpart 1200, Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Oil and Gas Producing Activities, in Regulation S-K. This new subpart consolidates the industry-specific disclosure requirements for oil and gas companies found in Item 102 of Regulation S-K and Industry Guide 2. The new subpart contains the following disclosure items:

• Item 1201. General instructions to oil and gas industry-specific disclosures
• Item 1202. Disclosure of reserves
• Item 1203. Proved undeveloped reserves (PUDs)
• Item 1204. Oil and gas production, production prices and production costs
• Item 1205. Drilling and other exploratory and development activities
• Item 1206. Present activities
• Item 1207. Delivery commitments
• Item 1208. Oil and gas properties, wells, operations, and acreage

Other Significant Issues

The guide also describes the following issues related to oil and gas reporting addressed in the final rule:

• MD&A Guidance – The adopting release also includes interpretative guidance regarding the types of issues an oil and gas company should consider when preparing its MD&A, including disclosure regarding material changes due to technology, prices and concession conditions.
• Ceiling Test Limitation for Capitalized Costs under Full Cost Method – The amendments change the Commission’s full cost method of accounting to use a 12-month average price for reserves quantity disclosures and for accounting purposes.
• Accounting Treatment and no Retroactive Revision – The adopting release includes accounting guidance stating that any change to accounting figures that result from the amendments should be treated as a change in the method of applying an accounting principle that is inseparable from a change in accounting estimate, which would not require retroactive revision.

The SEC’s small entity compliance guide on oil and gas reporting can be found at http://www.sec.gov/info/smallbus/secg/oilgasreporting-secg.htm.

From John Lehman
GBH CPAs, PC
www.gbhcpas.com

Yesterday President Obama signed the appropriations bill that includes funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Effective Dec. 21, 2009, the Section 6(b) fee rate applicable to the registration of securities, the Section 13(e) fee rate applicable to the repurchase of securities, and the Section 14(g) fee rate applicable to proxy solicitations and statements in corporate control transactions will increase to $71.30 per million dollars from the current $55.80 per million.

Read the full SEC release: www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-270.htm