The SEC Division of Corporation Finance's filing review process is a key function utilized by the SEC staff to monitor the critical accounting and disclosure decisions applied by registrants. Our analysis of SEC comment letters issued in relation to Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings identifies the frequency of topical areas addressed by the SEC staff and how their focus areas change over time. In addition to providing our insights on the nature of the SEC staff comments, we provide sample text from the SEC staff’s comments and links to where you can learn more about the accounting and disclosure requirements addressed in each topical area as well as the comments themselves in some cases.

The staff continues to issue comments related to climate change disclosures on both annual reports on Form 10-K and registration statements. These comments, based on a sample letter to companies in the form of a “Dear Issuer” letter in September 2021, are largely focused on information related to climate change-related risks and opportunities which may be required to be disclosed in a company’s description of business, legal proceedings, risk factors, and management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations (refer to the Commission’s 2010 Climate Change Interpretive Release). The staff also looks at other climate change-related disclosures outside of SEC filings (e.g., Corporate Social Responsibility reports, investor presentations, and information on websites) in formulating comments.

*_{This analysis was performed based on topical areas assigned by research firm Audit Analytics for comment letters publicly issued in the 12 months ended March 31, 2023 ("Current Period") and the 12 months ended March 31, 2022 ("Prior Period") in relation to Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings. Total comment letters evaluated during the Current Period and Prior Period were approximately 1,026 and 642, respectively.}