Changes Made to SEC’s Emergency Filing Plan

New rules give the Securities and Exchange Commission leeway to allow public companies to make their required financial disclosures through alternative channels in an emergency such as a flu pandemic or terrorist attack.

Revisions to the SEC’s emergency operations plan were posted Wednesday on the agency’s website. They give the SEC chairman new flexibility in accommodating companies that would be unable to file their reports in an emergency that could, for example, shut down the agency’s Washington headquarters and its electronic filing system, known as Edgar.

The chairman would be able to designate an alternative location that is “geographically remote” from the headquarters building for receiving financial filings and other documents.

Also revised is the line of succession if the chairman were to be incapacitated in an emergency, so that it is no longer based only on seniority. In addition, the SEC’s executive director and the executive assistant to the chairman have been removed from the line of succession.