At the U.S. Chamber Capital Markets Summit, the SEC’s Corporation Finance director said two 2026 proposals could streamline compliance, cut costs for smaller and mid-cap issuers, and broaden access to public markets.
An SEC official said two pending 2026 capital-markets reform proposals are designed to simplify U.S. public-company regulation after years of added disclosure requirements increased cost and complexity. In remarks at the U.S. Chamber Capital Markets Summit, the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance highlighted Registered Offering Reform, which if adopted would expand shelf registration eligibility by more than 60% by replacing current Form S-3 public-float and reporting-history thresholds with issuer-status and reporting-timeliness tests, and Filer Status Reform, which would raise the Large Accelerated Filer threshold from $700 million to $2 billion. The official said the changes could lower audit fees and other compliance costs, especially for smaller and mid-cap issuers, while broadening access to public markets and affecting capital formation dynamics. Public comment deadlines run through July 20, July 27, and August 3, 2026 for the filer-status, registered-offering, and climate-rule rescission proposals, respectively.