May 22, 2023

Submitted electronically via SEC.gov

Vanessa Countryman, Secretary
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street NE
Washington, DC 20549-1090

Re: File No. S7–08-23

Electronic Submission of Certain Materials Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; Amendments Regarding the FOCUS Report

Dear Ms. Countryman:

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”)1 appreciates the opportunity to comment on the above-referenced proposal (the “Proposal”) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission or the “SEC”).2

SIFMA strongly supports modernizing the document submission process for brokerdealers, OTC derivatives-dealers, and security-based swap entities and improving the utility and functionality of the forms and their data for the Commission, market participants, and dealers. Indeed, many of our members currently submit forms electronically even when not required to do so and have sought to engage with the Commission on steps to improve the document submission process. SIFMA also applauds the Commission for taking steps in the Proposal to eliminate unnecessary, confusing, and duplicative requirements.

However, we are concerned that the Proposal includes a number of requirements (e.g., structured data language for unstructured documents) that would impose significant costs and burdens on market participants without providing a clear benefit. In many cases, there are mechanisms to achieve the Commission’s objectives that would be substantially less costly and burdensome for firms than those proposed by the Commission (for example, allowing firms to submit PDFs via email or a private file transfer service). In addition, some aspects of the Proposal, such as the requirement to submit fillable web forms on EDGAR in lieu of PDFs, would actually undermine the Proposal’s goals by introducing inefficiencies and opportunities for human error.

 

1 SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. On behalf of our industry’s one million employees, we advocate on legislation, regulation and business policy affecting retail and institutional investors, equity and fixed income markets and related products and services. We serve as an industry coordinating body to promote fair and orderly markets, informed regulatory compliance and efficient market operations and resiliency. We also provide a forum for industry policy and professional development. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit https://www.sifma.org.

2 See 88 Fed. Reg. 23920 (Apr. 18, 2023).