SEC Provides Guidance on Investment Company Social Media Filing Obligations

On March 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the first in a new series of guidance releases aimed at addressing emerging legal issues.  In that edition of “IM Guidance Update”, the SEC focused on clarifying filing and disclosure requirements associated with investment companies’ use of social media, identifying several types of electronic communications and materials on investment companies’ websites that are not required to be filed for review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This release comes, according to the SEC, because many such organizations have been filing materials located on their social media sites with FINRA “out of an abundance of caution”. You can read the SEC’s press release and access the full IM Guidance Update: SEC Issues Guidance Update on Social Media Filings by Investment Companies.