Enforcement mechanisms for SEC reporting deadlines

SEC filing deadlines accelerated for many firms over the past decade; nevertheless, the percentage of late 10-K filings has decreased by historical standards. From 2000 to 2007, six percent of 10-Ks are late but remain SEC compliant (via a Form 12b-25 filing). An additional 2.5 percent of all 10-K filings are both late and non-compliant. When analyzing all 10-K filings (i.e., both timely and late filings), we find that (1) relatively large stock exchanges, (2) greater analyst coverage, and (3) larger audit firms are each associated with improved timeliness and compliance in 10-K report filings.