Securities and Exchange Commission December 30, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to amend the rules allowing a foreign private issuer to terminate the registration of a class of equity securities under section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and thus stop filing reports required as a result of registration) and to cease its reporting obligations regarding a class of equity or debt securities under section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Under the current rules, a foreign private issuer may find it difficult to terminate its Exchange Act registration and reporting obligations despite the fact that there is relatively little interest in the issuer's securities among United States investors. Moreover, currently a foreign private issuer can only suspend, and cannot permanently terminate, a duty to report arising under section 15(d). The proposed rules would permit the termination of Exchange Act reporting regarding a class of equity securities under either section 12(g) or section 15(d) by a foreign private issuer that meets specified criteria designed to measure U.S. market interest for that class of securities. The proposed rules would also permit a foreign private issuer to terminate, and not merely suspend, its section 15(d) reporting obligations regarding a class of debt securities as long as it meets conditions similar to the current requirements for suspending its reporting obligations relating to that class of debt securities. At the same time, the proposed rules would seek to provide U.S. investors with ready access through the Internet to material information about a foreign private issuer that is required by its home country on an ongoing basis after it has exited the Exchange Act reporting system.