If Congress fails to pass a budget or a continuing resolution to maintain funding, much of the federal government will shut down at 12:01 a.m., EDT, April 9, 2011. On April 7, the SEC issued guidance on which functions will continue to operate if a shutdown occurs.

The SEC will have a limited staff that will respond only to emergency situations. EDGAR will accept filings and remain fully functional, and all filing fees can be paid during the shutdown. All Exchange Act filings should continue to be made on a timely basis.

However, the SEC staff will be unavailable to examine or process filings, provide interpretive advice, issue no-action relief or confirm the absence of registration statement stop orders. Automatically effective registration statements and automatically effective post-effective amendments will be effective when filed, but the staff will not declare registration statements or amendments effective or accelerate effectiveness.

On April 8, ten law firms issued a consensus report containing a helpful Q&A on the effect of the potential shutdown on capital markets transactions and public company reporting.