The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed rule and form amendments to improve filer access to and management of accounts on the SEC’s EDGAR system. The proposed amendments would require EDGAR filers to authorize identified individuals who would be responsible for managing filers’ EDGAR accounts. In addition, individuals acting on behalf of filers on EDGAR would need individual account credentials to access those EDGAR accounts and make filings. If the proposed amendments are later adopted, the SEC will make technical changes to EDGAR, including to make available to EDGAR filers certain Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for machine-to-machine submissions on EDGAR and retrieval of related filing information.

The SEC today also announced that it will open to the public a beta software environment for filer testing and feedback, which will reflect the proposed rule and form amendments and the related technical changes, on Sept. 18, 2023. Information about signing up for beta testing and extensive additional information about the proposal and related technical changes can be found on the EDGAR Next—Filer Access and Account Management page on SEC.gov.

“Today’s actions would enhance EDGAR’s security and improve filers’ access to the EDGAR system,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “The proposed amendments would further secure login protocols by requiring every person filing something into EDGAR to login with individual credentials and to use multi-factor authentication. Additionally, the SEC’s EDGAR Business Office soon will roll out a Beta version of a new EDGAR user interface that will include, among other things, a set of optional APIs to enhance how filers, including registrants and their agents, can access EDGAR, retrieve information, and submit bulk filings.”

The proposing release will be published in the Federal Register. The public comment period will remain open until 60 days after the date of publication of the proposing release in the Federal Register.