What Are SEC Filings
What are SEC Filings?
SEC Filings involve the legislative process of satisfying the required paperwork provided by the SEC; the SEC – also known as the Securities and Exchange Commission – is the regulatory body belonging to the Federal Government of the United States of America responsible for the authentication, investigation, and regulation of companies who are publically-traded on the commercial, open market. SEC Filings are required by any or all companies whose stock, bonds, or securities are traded or exchanged; without completing SEC Filings, as well as the receipt of SEC authorization, a company will be unable to participate in trade activity undertaken within the stock market.
SEC Filings and EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval)
The EDGAR system is defined as an investigative measure undertaken within the process of SEC Filings; prior to the granting of permission to participate in public trade and exchange of a company’s stocks and securities, that company will be required to both provide all applicable documentation, as well as receive approval from the SEC Filings board. In accordance with the process of SEC Filings, individual companies and corporations wishing engage in trade and exchange activities undertaken of the public market, which is also known as the stock market, are required to fulfill the requirements expressed by the SEC; within the realm of SEC Filings, there exist a variety of stages to complete prior to the receipt of approval.
Forms Required by the SEC Filings Committee
The SEC Filings Board requires the submission of official forms, which have been created – and subsequently classified – in order to allow for the provision of pertinent information with regard to the receipt of approval from the SEC; the following forms are required to be fulfilled and submitted prior to approval:
Form 10-K
The 10-K Form is provided for completion by the SEC Filings board; this form is considered to be the general account of performance with regard to both financial and capital earned within that fiscal year; the accuracy and truthfulness of the information illustrated by an individual company’s 10-K Form is of the utmost importance – companies indicted in the act of providing fraudulent and deceptive on the form will be subject to legal and punitive recourse. The information conveyed on the 10-K form will be made available to the general public; as a result, its authenticity and accuracy is crucial – the following information is typically required:
Quarterly earnings of an individual country; typically, this earnings reports coincides with fiscal quartering.
A provision of the range of Market Capitalization experienced by that company on a quarterly basis; Market Capital is the overall valuation of the full amount of stocks traded and exchanged within that fiscal quarter – both the peaks, as well as the lows with regard to individual, quarterly market capitalization are required by this SEC Filings form.
Form 10-Q
In contrast to the 10-K form, which is filed once, this form is filed 3 times a year; the respective filings typically coincide with fiscal quarters. With regard to fourth quarter activity experienced by an individual company, that information is most often reflected by the information conveyed by the 10-Q Form; this form is considered to be far-less detailed in conjunction with its 10-Q counterpart.
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