SEC and Commerce Seek OMB Extensions on Four Reporting Rules Covering Markets and Exports

SEC: Short-Sale Reporting Under Rule 13f-2

The Securities and Exchange Commission is soliciting comments on the existing information collection under Rule 13f-2 and related Form SHO (17 CFR 240.13f-2 and 17 CFR 249.332), which the Commission plans to submit to OMB for extension and approval. The rule is designed to fulfill the requirements of Exchange Act Section 13(f)(2) by requiring certain Institutional Investment Managers to report to the Commission, on a monthly basis on Form SHO, certain short position data and short activity data for certain equity securities. As the notice states, more information about short sale activity and gross short positions of reporting Managers may promote greater risk management among market participants, and may facilitate capital formation to the extent that greater transparency bolsters confidence in the markets.

The Commission estimates approximately 1,000 respondents per year are subject to the collection, each making an estimated 12 annual responses. Each response is estimated to take 20 hours to comply and 2 hours to file. The Commission also estimates an additional 22 amended responses per month. The total annual hour burden is approximately 269,808 hours. The Commission explains that Form SHO and the aggregated data published pursuant to Rule 13f-2 supplement the short sale information currently publicly available from FINRA and the exchanges, thereby filling an information gap for market participants and regulators.

SEC: Broker-Dealer Financial Distress Notices Under Rule 17a-11

The Commission has submitted to OMB a request for extension of the previously approved collection under Rule 17a-11, Notification Provisions for Brokers and Dealers (17 CFR 240.17a-11). The rule was adopted on July 11, 1971 in response to an operational crisis in the securities industry between 1967 and 1970. It requires broker-dealers experiencing financial or operational difficulties to provide notice to the Commission, the broker-dealer's designated examining authority, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission if the broker-dealer is registered with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant.

The rule is described as an integral part of the Commission's financial responsibility program, enabling the Commission, a broker-dealer's DEA, and the CFTC to increase surveillance of a broker-dealer experiencing difficulties and to obtain any additional information necessary to gauge the broker-dealer's financial or operational condition. Rule 17a-11 also requires over-the-counter derivatives dealers and certain broker-dealers to notify the Commission when their tentative net capital drops below certain levels. Compliance with the rule is mandatory, and the Commission will generally not publish or make available to any person notices or reports received pursuant to Rule 17a-11. The Commission estimates the total hour burden under Rule 17a-11 is approximately 201 hours per year. Public comments are due by November 2, 2026.

SEC: Securities Lending Transparency Under Rule 10c-1a

The Commission is also submitting to OMB a request for extension of the previously approved collection under Rule 10c-1a (17 CFR 240.10c-1a). The rule requires covered persons to report to a registered national securities association (RNSA) within certain time periods specified data elements concerning covered securities loans. It also requires an RNSA to implement rules regarding the format and manner of its collection of Rule 10c-1a information, make publicly available certain data pertaining to reported securities loans, and comply with certain data retention and availability requirements. FINRA, currently the only RNSA, adopted its Rule 6500 Series to implement these requirements.

The notice states that the securities lending market is currently opaque and has data gaps that create inefficiencies, and that the rule's information collections are necessary to remediate these issues by giving investors, market participants, and regulators access to the material terms of securities lending transactions. The Commission explains that closing these gaps will improve price discovery, reduce information asymmetry, and could lower barriers to entry for would-be participants in the securities lending market. The notice adds that the disclosure of specified material terms might improve the efficiency and resiliency of the securities market by reducing frictions in the cost of borrowing securities. Notably, in December 2025, the Commission granted a temporary exemption from compliance with Rule 10c-1a regarding reporting and dissemination dates; as a result, covered persons are not yet required to report Rule 10c-1a information to an RNSA until September 28, 2028.

Commerce/BIS: Five-Year Export Records Retention

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) within the Commerce Department is seeking a 30-day public comment period — following a prior 60-day comment period published June 24, 2026 — on the extension of its Five-Year Records Retention Requirement for Export Transactions and Boycott Actions (OMB Control Number 0694-0096). Under Sections 760 and 762.6(a) of the Export Administration Regulations, all parties involved in the export, reexport, transshipment, or diversion of items subject to the EAR, and U.S. parties involved in export transactions involving a reportable boycott request, are required to maintain records of these activities for a period of five years. The notice explains that the five-year retention requirement corresponds with the statute of limitations for violations and is necessary to preserve potential evidence for investigations.

The collection covers an estimated 100,000 respondents, with an average response burden of 1 to 60 seconds and total burden hours of 23,383. The respondent's obligation is listed as voluntary, and the affected public is described as business or other for-profit organizations.

What to watch

• November 2, 2026: Deadline for public comments on the SEC's Rule 17a-11 (broker-dealer notification) OMB extension request.
• October 19, 2026: EPA Science Advisory Board public meeting (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time), at which the SAB will conduct a quality review of the draft report on the EPA's Draft Sixth Contaminant Candidate List, discuss the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, and discuss the EPA's Draft Guidance for Reducing Risk from PFOA and PFOS in Biosolids; oral statement requests and written statements for this meeting are due by October 12, 2026.
• October 12, 2026: Deadline to request placement on the speaker list and to submit written statements for the EPA SAB October 19 meeting.
• September 28, 2028: Date by which covered persons must begin reporting Rule 10c-1a information to an RNSA, per the temporary exemption granted in December 2025.

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