SEC Promulgates Guidelines on Use of eSECURE

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidelines on the use of the Electronic SEC Universal Registration Environment (eSECURE).

 

eSECURE provides users with a digital passport for accessing various online services offered by the SEC. It centralizes SEC account management and facilitates online transactions from a single platform. eSECURE incorporates risk-based credentialing procedures, including Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) to verify identity authenticity. Additional verification methods like courier-based customer visits and remote biometric capture at retail locations may also be employed. This system enables users with credentials to digitally authenticate documents online, eliminating the necessity for wet signatures, notarization, and hard copy submissions.

 

The guidelines specify certain online services deemed “sensitive and critical.” These include SEC Electronic Submission Authentication Portal (eSAP); SEC Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) – For Users Filing an Application; One-day Submission and E-registration of Companies (OneSEC) – For Users Filing an Application; Automated Certification Examination System (ACES); SEC Application Program Interface (API) Marketplace; SEC Electronic Registry Application for Market Participants (eRAMP); SEC eFAST Alternative Submission Environment (EASE); SEC Electronic Application for Modification of ENtity Data (eAMEND); and SEC iMessage and other SEC Complaints Systems. For online services not categorized as “sensitive and critical,” users can choose to undergo a credentialing process to ensure secure, identified, and simplified access.

 

Any user with a credentialed eSECURE account may digitally authenticate documents (i.e. Articles of Incorporation, By Laws, and General Information Sheets) that will be submitted to the Commission using eSAP. The use of the eSAP on the electronic document shall be an accepted and equivalent alternative to the authentication of a person on a written document. Thus, the option to avail of the prevailing and current accepted modes of filing remains.

 

The eSECURE Guidelines may be accessed here.