SEC Filings, Regulatory Deadlines, and Capital Market Consequences

46 Pages Posted: 6 Nov 2017 Last revised: 3 Dec 2017

See all articles by Eli Bartov

Eli Bartov

NYU Stern School of Business

Yaniv Konchitchki

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business

Date Written: November 30, 2017

Abstract

Timely disclosure of financial statement information is a critical requirement for firms and well-functioning capital markets. Yet, every quarter or year, a non-trivial number of firms are late in filing their financial statements. This paper identifies and probes various capital market consequences for late filings of quarterly and annual financial statements. It examines the short- and long-window reaction to late filings, as well as how equity investors process statements accompanying late filing announcements, such as managers declaring intentions to file within/outside SEC’s allowed grace periods. The paper documents that delayed quarterly filings have distinctly different valuation implications than delayed annual filings over the short and long run, and that accounting problems play a unique role in signaling the seriousness of the delay. It also shows that investors do not accept managements’ delay-related assertions at face value, and that delayed filing announcements signal continued poor performance that is not fully reflected in stock prices at the time the announcements are made. One particularly surprising finding is that stock prices drop significantly as soon as firms signal late statement filings via the regulatory form, even when management declares it will meet the extended deadline. Overall, this paper sheds new light on important capital market consequences of filing financial statements late.

Keywords: Asset Pricing, Accounting Problems, SEC Filings, Financial Statements, Market Efficiency

JEL Classification: G12, G14, M41

Suggested Citation

Bartov, Eli and Konchitchki, Yaniv, SEC Filings, Regulatory Deadlines, and Capital Market Consequences (November 30, 2017). Accounting Horizons, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3065694

Eli Bartov

NYU Stern School of Business ( email )

44 W. 4th Street, Suite 10-96
New York, NY 10012
United States
212.998.0016 (Phone)

Yaniv Konchitchki (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business ( email )

University of California, Berkeley
545 Student Services Building, #1900
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

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