The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that in fiscal year 2013, the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the Commission will be set at $136.40 per million dollars, a 19% rate increase.
While this 19% leap on its own is a pretty hefty price hike, when you take into consideration the 2011 and 2012 numbers, the picture gets even worse. Although there was a 1.2% price drop in fees in 2012, the rate in 2011 increased 63%. Along with the 2013 increase, this averages out to a 26.9% increase per year over three years.
What were they thinking?
The Commission determined this new rate in accordance with procedures required under the securities laws (along with this methodology). Accordingly, the Commission consulted with both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget regarding the annual adjustment.
As noted in the SEC order, the new fees will go into effect on October 1st (as mandated by Dodd Frank) – which is a departure from years before that when the new rates didn’t become effective until five days after the date of enactment of the SEC’s appropriation for the new year, which often was delayed well beyond the October 1st start of the government’s fiscal year as Congress and the President battled over the government’s budget.
What do you think about a 26.9% increase?