SEC to Vote on ‘Plain English’ Rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission will vote Thursday on a plan to require companies to write documents describing stocks, mutual funds and other investment vehicles in “plain English,” or easily comprehensible language. The panel may also make the rules optional. Other proposals for mutual funds are pending, including one regarding the profile prospectus, and will not be considered Thursday. A profile prospectus aims to spell out a fund’s history and objectives in a single page. Critics have said that writing securities documents in plain English overly simplifies or leaves out important data, a view the Securities and Exchange Commission disputes.