Law360, New York ( April 26, 2016, 10:57 AM EDT) -- On April 13, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published an extensive concept release requesting public comment on whether its business and financial disclosure requirements contained in Regulation S-K — the integrated disclosure regime for registration statements for public offerings and ongoing periodic reports and other filings — continue to elicit the most important and relevant information for investors to make informed investment and voting decisions, and how public companies can most effectively and economically present this information through advancements in technology. The concept release, available here, is part of a multiyear evaluation of the SEC's disclosure requirements originally mandated by the 2012 Jobs Act and prepared on the basis of initial comments gathered in response to an earlier SEC staff study and disclosure initiative. The concept release, at 341 pages with 340 specific requests for comment, is a major work by the SEC's staff and traces the statutory and regulatory evolution of corporate disclosure and its objectives (i.e., protecting investors, facilitating capital formation and maintaining orderly markets) using a combination of principles-based and prescriptive disclosure requirements aimed at different types of public companies and their stockholders and investors. The concept release would serve as an excellent text book for a law school course on securities regulation....