Want to call up the quarterly report of the bank across the street on your computer? Want to research an acquisition target?
The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to provide free access through the Internet to the approximately 12 million documents filed with the agency each year.
The SEC's Edgar - Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval - system has been available since October 1993 on the Internet through a pilot program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. That program ends Oct. 1, but SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt said in a speech last week that the information will remain on-line indefinitely.
"It is a major commission priority to use electronic communications to bring clearer, faster, more complete disclosure to investors as well as to reduce costs for issuers," Mr. Levitt said. "This represents a logical step in our efforts to better inform investors."
Edgar contains the annual reports, quarterly reports to stockholders, prospectuses, and announcements of special events of all publicly traded companies, including banks.
Bert Ely, president of Ely & Co., Alexandria, Va., said the system will prove most useful to banks considering acquisitions.
"One reason that this might have value is in regard to mergers and acquisitions, having the information readily available," Mr. Ely said. "But there are not many secrets in this business."
Mr. Levitt said the SEC hopes the system will eliminate nearly all of the secrets that remain. According to Mr. Levitt, the SEC had offers from several public-sector firms to handle Edgar, but all of those offers would either result in limiting the information available or would "attach too many commercial strings."
Thus, the SEC is picking up the tab for providing the information.
"Technology is so advanced that the cost to the commission is quite modest," Mr. Levitt said.
