Title 17
SECTION 240.12b-12
240.12b-12 Requirements as to paper, printing and language.
§ 240.12b-12 Requirements as to paper, printing and language.(a) Statements and reports shall be filed on good quality, unglazed white paper, no larger than 8 1/2 × 11 inches in size, insofar as practicable. To the extent that the reduction of larger documents would render them illegible, such documents may be filed on paper larger than 8 1/2 × 11 inches in size.
(b) The statement or report and, insofar as practicable, all papers and documents filed as a part thereof, shall be printed, lithographed, mimeographed, or typewritten. However, the statement or report or any portion thereof may be prepared by any similar process which, in the opinion of the Commission, produces copies suitable for a permanent record and microfilming. Irrespective of the process used, all copies of any such material shall be clear, easily readable and suitable for repeated photocopying. Debits in credit categories and credits in debit categories shall be designated so as to be clearly distinguishable as such on photocopies.
(c) The body of all printed statements and reports and all notes to financial statements and other tabular data included therein shall be in roman type at least as large and as legible as 10-point modern type. However, to the extent necessary for convenient presentation, financial statements and other tabular data, including tabular data in notes, may be in roman type at least as large and as legible as 8-point modern type. All such type shall be leaded at least 2 points.
(d)(1) All Exchange Act filings and submissions must be in the English language, except as otherwise provided by this section. If a filing or submission requires the inclusion of a document that is in a foreign language, a party must submit instead a fair and accurate English translation of the entire foreign language document, except as provided by paragraph (d)(3) of this section.
(2) If a filing or submission subject to review by the Division of Corporation Finance requires the inclusion of a foreign language document as an exhibit or attachment, a party must submit a fair and accurate English translation of the foreign language document if consisting of any of the following, or an amendment of any of the following:
(i) Articles of incorporation, memoranda of association, bylaws, and other comparable documents, whether original or restated;
(ii) Instruments defining the rights of security holders, including indentures qualified or to be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939;
(iii) Voting agreements, including voting trust agreements;
(iv) Contracts to which directors, officers, promoters, voting trustees or security holders named in a registration statement, report or other document are parties;
(v) Contracts upon which a filer's business is substantially dependent;
(vi) Audited annual and interim consolidated financial information; and
(vii) Any document that is or will be the subject of a confidential treatment request under § 240.24b-2 or § 230.406 of this chapter.
(3)(i) A party may submit an English summary instead of an English translation of a foreign language document as an exhibit or attachment to a filing or submission subject to review by the Division of Corporation Finance, as long as:
(A) The foreign language document does not consist of any of the subject matter enumerated in paragraph (d)(2) of this section; or
(B) The applicable form permits the use of an English summary.
(ii) Any English summary submitted under paragraph (d)(3) of this section must:
(A) Fairly and accurately summarize the terms of each material provision of the foreign language document; and
(B) Fairly and accurately describe the terms that have been omitted or abridged.
(4) When submitting an English summary or English translation of a foreign language document under this section, a party must identify the submission as either an English summary or English translation. A party may submit a copy of the unabridged foreign language document when including an English summary or English translation of a foreign language document in a filing or submission. A party must provide a copy of any foreign language document upon the request of Commission staff.
(5) A foreign government or its political subdivision must provide a fair and accurate English translation of its latest annual budget submitted as Exhibit B to Form 18 (§ 249.218 of this chapter) or Exhibit (c) to Form 18-K (§ 249.318 of this chapter) only if one is available. If no English translation is available, a filer must provide a copy of the foreign language version of its latest annual budget as an exhibit.
(6) A Canadian issuer may file an exhibit, attachment or other part of a Form 40-F registration statement or annual report (§ 249.240f of this chapter), Schedule 13E-4F (§ 240.13e-102), Schedule 14D-1F (§ 240.14d-102), or Schedule 14D-9F (§ 240.14d-103), that contains text in both French and English if the issuer included the French text to comply with the requirements of the Canadian securities administrator or other Canadian authority and, for an electronic filing, if the filing is an HTML document, as defined in Regulation S-T Rule 11 (17 CFR 232.11).
(e) Where a statement or report is distributed to investors through an electronic medium, issuers may satisfy legibility requirements applicable to printed documents, such as paper size and type size and font, by presenting all required information in a format readily communicated to investors.
[47 FR 11466, Mar. 16, 1982, as amended at 47 FR 58238, Dec. 30, 1982; 61 FR 24656, May 15, 1996; 67 FR 36704, May 24, 2002]