The comment periods on 11 Securities and Exchange Commission proposals on various topics, including the credit rating agencies, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and energy company disclosure requirements, are to expire in the next two months.

• Release 34-58228, Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval to Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, to Adopt Additional Initial Listing Standards to List Securities of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, approves on an accelerated basis a proposed rule change from the Nasdaq Stock Market that would allow special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to list securities under the Nasdaq's existing initial listing standards, if they also follow requirements in proposed Amendment No. 1. Comments are due on August 21.
• Release No. 34-58254, Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Make Permanent a Pilot Program under which the Exchange Excludes from its Earnings Standard Gains or Losses from Extinguishment of Debt Prior to Maturity, contains a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) proposal that seeks to modify the method used to calculate a company?s earnings in the pre-initial public offering style. The NYSE offered its calculation following the 2002 issuance of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 145, Rescission of FASB Statements No. 4, 44, and 64, Amendment of FASB Statement No. 13, and Technical Corrections, by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). If approved, the proposal would return to the earlier method. Comments on the proposal are due on August 24.
• Release No. 34-58259, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule on Auditing Standard No. 6, Evaluating Consistency of Financial Statements and Conforming Amendments, proposes a standard that seeks to bring the PCAOB's rulemaking in line with some recent decisions of the FASB, including the 2005 issuance of SFAS No. 154, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections, and SFAS No. 162, The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Comments on the proposal are due on August 26.
• Release No. 33-8949, Enhanced Disclosure and New Prospectus Delivery Option for Registered Open-End Management Investment Companies, reopened the public comment period for the proposal in Release No. 33-8861, which was issued to enhance disclosures provided to mutual fund investors. The initial comment period closed on February 28, and with the new deadline, will be open until August 29.
• Release No. IC-28327, References to Ratings of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, is one of three proposals that would impose additional requirements on NRSROs in order to address concerns about the integrity of their credit rating procedures and methodologies. Release No. IC-28327 proposes to amend various rules and forms under the 1934 Act. Comments are due on September 5.
• Release No. 33-8940, Security Ratings, would replace rule and form requirements under the 1933 Act and the 1934 Act. Comments are due on September 5.
• Release No. 34-58070, References to Ratings of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, proposes to amend five rules related to credit ratings in the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Comments are due on September 5.
• Release No. 34-58047, Exemption of Certain Foreign Brokers or Dealers, would amend a rule under the 1934 Act that provides conditional exemptions from broker-dealer registration for foreign entities engaged in certain activities involving certain U.S. investors. Comments are due September 8.
• Release No. 33-8935, Modernization of the Oil and Gas Reporting Requirements, proposes significant revisions to the SEC's oil and gas reporting and disclosure requirements. Amendments would be made to Rule 4-10 of Regulation S-X and Item 102 of Regulation S-K, and new Subpart 1200 would be added to Regulation S-K that incorporates many of the requirements in Industry Guide 2. Comments are due September 8.
• Release No. 33-8933, Indexed Annuities and Certain Other Insurance Contracts, would clarify the status of an annuity under the Securities Act of 1933 and exempt insurance companies from filing reports under the 1934 Act, with respect to indexed annuities and other securities that are registered under the Securities Act. Comments are due September 10.
• Release No. 34-58255, Proposed Amendment to Municipal Securities Disclosure, would amend Rule 15c2-12 under the 1934 Act by establishing a single centralized information repository to receive and distribute electronic filings. Comments on the proposal are due on September 22.