According to a notice posted to the SEC's homepage, the SEC remains open and operational despite the government shutdown on October 1. The SEC expects to continue its full range of operations, including reviewing registration statement filings, for a few weeks even though the rest of the federal government is shutting down.

The SEC also issued a summary of its plan of operations in the event the SEC runs through its available funds and must shut down. The summary states that, in the event of a lapse in appropriations that results in an SEC shutdown, the SEC will operate with a limited staff that will respond only to emergency situations. According the summary, in this circumstance, staff will not be available to:

However, EDGAR will accept filings and remain fully functional. The staff will also be available to answer questions about fee-bearing EDGAR filings and other emergency questions regarding EDGAR.The summary is largely the same as SEC guidance issued in past instances in which the federal government faced a threat of shutdown (see Legal Update, SEC Outlines Limited Functions in the Event of a Government Shutdown).

For more information about filing documents with the SEC, see Practice Note, Filing Documents with the SEC.