The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) Mandates and Security Framework refers to cybersecurity and risk management regulations that publicly traded companies and financial institutions must follow to protect investors and maintain market integrity.
Asset Management
Identify and manage the data personnel devices systems and facilities that enable the organization to achieve business purposes in accordance with their relative importance to business objectives and the organization’s risk strategy.
Understand the organization’s mission objectives stakeholders and activities.
Understand the cybersecurity risk to organizational operations (including mission functions image and reputation) organizational assets and individuals.
Establish and maintain the organization’s overall risk management strategy.
Governance
Establish and communicate the organization's cybersecurity risk management strategy.
Define and assign roles responsibilities and authorities for cybersecurity.
Establish implement and enforce cybersecurity policies and procedures.
Provide oversight and accountability for the organization's cybersecurity risk management efforts.
Identify understand and manage legal regulatory and contractual requirements related to cybersecurity.
Establish and implement processes for managing cybersecurity risks within the supply chain.
Identity Management Authentication and Access Control
Manage and control physical and logical access to assets and associated facilities.
Ensure that the organization’s personnel and partners are provided cybersecurity awareness education and are adequately trained to perform their information security-related duties and responsibilities.
Establish and manage baseline data security policies procedures and agreements to ensure the confidentiality integrity and availability of information.
Establish implement and maintain information protection processes and procedures to manage the protection of information assets.
Manage and maintain protective technology to ensure the security of systems and assets.
Security Continuous Monitoring
Monitor cybersecurity events and verify the effectiveness of protective measures.
Establish and maintain detection processes to timely discover cybersecurity events.
Response Planning
Establish and maintain response plans and procedures to manage a cybersecurity incident.
Coordinate response activities with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
Perform analysis to ensure effective response and support recovery activities.
Perform activities to prevent expansion of an event mitigate its effects and eradicate the incident.
Incorporate lessons learned from current and previous detection and response activities into organizational processes and procedures.
Recovery Planning
Establish and maintain recovery plans and procedures to restore systems or assets affected by cybersecurity incidents.
Incorporate lessons learned from current and previous recovery activities into organizational processes and procedures.
Coordinate restoration activities with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
Business
Describe the principal products and services offered by the company.
Describe the primary markets in which the company operates.
Outline the methods used by the company to distribute its products and services.
Describe the competitive landscape and the company's position within it.
Detail the company's research and development activities.
List and describe significant patents trademarks and licenses.
Explain any seasonality aspects that affect the company's business.
Identify the most significant risks that could adversely affect the company.
Discuss how the identified risks could adversely affect the company's business financial condition or future results.
Ensure risks discussed are specific to the company.
Disclose any written comments received from the SEC staff regarding prior filings that remain unresolved.
Provide information about the location and general character of the company's principal physical properties.
Disclose any material pending legal proceedings.
Provide specific information about mine safety if the company is involved in mining operations.
Provide information about the principal market(s) in which the company's common equity is traded.
Report the high and low sales prices for the stock for each quarter within the two most recent fiscal years.
Disclose the number of holders of common equity.
Provide information about any issuer purchases of its own equity securities.
Provide management’s perspective on the company's financial performance.
Discuss the company's liquidity and capital resources.
Discuss the results of operations for the last three fiscal years (or two for smaller reporting companies).
Discuss the financial condition as of the end of the two most recent fiscal years.
Provide information about the company's exposure to interest rate risk.
Provide information about the company's exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risk.
Provide information about the company's exposure to commodity price risk.
Include the company's audited balance sheets for the past two fiscal years.
Include the company's audited income statements for the past three fiscal years.
Include the company's audited statements of cash flows for the past three fiscal years.
Include the company's audited statements of changes in equity for the past two fiscal years.
Include the independent auditor's report on the financial statements.
Include any required supplementary financial information.
Disclose if there has been a change in the company's independent auditor during the past two fiscal years.
Disclose any disagreements with the former auditor on accounting and financial disclosure matters.
Provide information about the company's disclosure controls and procedures.
Include management's assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.
Include the independent auditor's attestation report on internal control over financial reporting (for larger filers).
Disclose any other information that was required to be disclosed in a report on Form 8-K during the fourth quarter but was not reported.
Disclose if a foreign jurisdiction prevents PCAOB inspection of the company's auditor.
Provide names ages positions and business experience of directors and executive officers.
Disclose information about the company's audit committee.
Disclose information about the company's codes of ethics.
Disclose procedures for nominating directors.
Detail the compensation paid to the company's named executive officers and directors.
Provide information about the ownership of the company's securities by certain beneficial owners (those owning more than 5% of the outstanding shares).
Provide information about the ownership of the company's securities by the company's directors and executive officers.
Disclose certain relationships and transactions between the company and its directors executive officers and significant shareholders.
Disclose information about the independence of the company's directors.
Disclose the fees paid to the company's independent auditor for audit audit-related tax and other services.
List all the exhibits filed as part of the Form 10-K.
Include a list of the financial statement schedules that are filed as part of the report.
Companies may voluntarily provide a summary of the information contained in the Form 10-K.
Ensure the Form 10-K is signed by the registrant its principal executive officer principal financial officer principal accounting officer and a majority of its board of directors.
Ensure the Form 10-K is filed electronically with the SEC through the EDGAR system.
Adhere to the filing deadline which depends on the company's filer status.