SEC Staff To Begin Publicly Releasing Comment Letters And Responses

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on May 12, 2005, it will begin the process of publicly releasing comment letters and response letters relating to disclosure filings made after Aug. 1, 2004, and reviewed by the Division of Corporation Finance and the Division of Investment Management. See Press Release No. 2004-89.

Alan Beller, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, said, "We believe it is appropriate to expand the transparency of our comment process by making this information available, free of charge, to an unlimited audience."

Comment letters and response letters relating to reviewed disclosure filings will begin to be released individually on a filing-by-filing basis through our EDGAR system at www.sec.gov. The process will commence with some of the oldest eligible filings, but as it continues, letters will be released no earlier than 45 days after the review of the disclosure filing is complete.