In its Report on Objectives for Fiscal Year 2022, the SEC Office of the Investor Advocate ("OIA") stated that it will focus on environmental, social and governance disclosure, Rule 10b5-1 plans, capital-raising alternatives, equity market structure and cryptocurrency. Submission of the Report to Congress is mandated under Section 4(g) of the Exchange Act.
OIA highlighted the following:
- Environmental, social and governance disclosure. OIA stated that investors would benefit from a "careful balance" of prescriptive and principles-based requirements.
- Rule 10b5-1 ("Employment of manipulative and deceptive devices") plans. OIA will examine whether trading pursuant to these plans should be paused for a set "cooling off" period or if disclosure of plan details should be required by companies or their executives.
- Capital-raising alternatives. OIA will study the current disclosure regime for direct listings and special purpose acquisition companies.
- Equity market structure issues. OIA will further consider (i) shortening the settlement period from T+2 to one day or shorter, (ii) pilot programs for thinly-traded securities to better understand the effects of restricting unlisted trading privileges, and (iii) conflicts of interest created by exchange fees and rebates in connection with broker-dealer order routing behavior.
- Cryptocurrency. OIA will monitor developments involving applications for exchange-traded funds with crypto asset-focused investment strategies.
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