SEC filings contain useful information about public companies and their finances. Public companies must follow the SEC's disclosure requirements to be listed on major U.S. stock exchanges. The Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) requires investors to receive financial and other information about securities offered for public sale, which is intended to prevent misrepresentations and fraud in the sale of securities. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) created the Securities and Exchange Commission and provided the SEC with the power to regulate and oversee the securities industry. Regulation S-K sets out the reporting requirements for SEC filings under both acts.
Some of the most common types of SEC filings include:
A comprehensive list of SEC forms can be found in the Index to Forms on the SEC website.
Filings are available for searching on the SEC's official EDGAR website. Paid resources, such as Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg, provide alternate tools to search EDGAR filings.
EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) provides free access to corporate information and SEC filings from 1994 to the present. Companies are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other SEC forms through EDGAR. This section provides an overview of the options available for conducting searches on EDGAR.
The search options for EDGAR are listed on the SEC's Search Tools page under its Filings section.
Company Filings Search:
Through Company Filings Search, users can search by company name, ticker symbol, or central index key (CIK). The CIK is the identification number given to an individual, company, or government entity filing with the SEC.
After searching for a specific company, you can find the company profile in EDGAR along with its filings. The default view shows the latest filings and popular selected filing types. You can view additional documents by clicking "View Filings."
Simple Full-Text Search:
Users can conduct simple full-text searches from the last twenty years using the EDGAR Full-Text Search. Clicking on "More search options" will reveal additional filters that can be added. However, this search function will not take boolean search terms (AND, OR, NOT).
Boolean and Advanced Searching in the Archive of Historical EDGAR Documents:
Users can conduct Boolean searches across filings from 1994 to present (except for the most recent day) in the Archive of Historical EDGAR Documents. Click on "Search String" for tips on how to formulate Boolean searches.
Latest Filings Received and Processed at the SEC:
Users can browse or search within a listing of the most recent filings for the current official filing date in the Latest Filings Received and Processed at the SEC. This listing includes filings made after the 5:30 pm deadline on the previous filing day.
For additional information on how to conduct searches on EDGAR, please see the following resources on the SEC's website:
Lexis+
Lexis+ has a database of SEC filings available for search in its Securities Law practice area. Lexis has two collections of SEC filings: EDGAR (1994 to present) and archival SEC online filings (from July 1987 through September 1997).
Intelligize
Intelligize is a separate product from Lexis, and can be accessed through its product switcher menu (the icon of nine boxes in the top left corner). It incorporates a prior platform called Securities Mosaic. Intelligize allows for sophisticated searching of EDGAR filings, along with other SEC documents, securities laws, Canadian company filings (SEDAR), and UK company filings.
SEC filings are available for in Bloomberg through its Transactional Intelligence Center or through its Securities Practice Center.
Both of these centers will provide links to the advanced EDGAR search.
Westlaw Edge
Westlaw's collection offers a Business Law Center which includes EDGAR Forms and Exhibits, selected SEC paper filings, and certain global filings from foreign jurisdictions.
EDGAR contains SEC filings from 1994 to the present, but other resources provide access to older SEC filings. For a comprehensive overview of the resources available to members of the Stanford University Community, please see the GSB Library's research guide on Corporate Reports.
Green Library Media & Microtext Center has various SEC filings available on microfiche; you can search for items available in the collection in Searchworks. The Business Library FAQ provides information about how to access to databases with pre-1994 filings.
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