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13 Wake Forest L. Rev. Online 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/wflron13 and id is 1 raw text is: 







        SILENT TREATMENT: THE INCREASE IN
  CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REDACTIONS IN SEC
                            FILINGS


              Mark  T. Wilhelm* & Michael T. Byrne**



    Publicly traded companies in the United States are required to
disclose a significant amount of information to the public in order to
comply  with  applicable securities laws.1  While  at times those
disclosure  requirements   are  rather  rigid,  there  are  many
circumstances  in which  these companies  retain latitude to keep
secrets out of the public eye-and notably, out of the reach of their
competitors.
    Public companies  are required to file disclosure documents with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange  Commission   (SEC), which are
made  available to the public pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act  (FOIA).2 In  particular, Item 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K
requires public companies  to file as an exhibit to their disclosure
documents   copies of certain material  contracts into which  the
company   has  entered.3       These exhibits often include sensitive
information  that  companies   prefer  to  keep   confidential for
competitive or other reasons.





    *  Associate, Corporate & Securities, Troutman Pepper Hamilton
Sanders LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; J.D., Villanova University Charles
Widger School of Law; B.A., University of Michigan. The views expressed in this
Study are only those of the Authors and do not reflect the views of Troutman
Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP or its clients.
   **  Associate, Corporate & Securities, Troutman Pepper Hamilton
Sanders LLP, Berwyn, Pennsylvania; J.D., Villanova University Charles Widger
School of Law; B.A., Villanova University. The views expressed in this Study are
only those of the Authors and do not reflect the views of Troutman Pepper
Hamilton Sanders LLP or its clients.
    1. See Rules and Regulations for the Securities and Exchange Commission
and   Major    Securities Law,   U.S.   SEC.  &    ExCH.   COMM'N,
htp  //wwv.sec.uov/abour/law/secrulesre s (last visited Apr. 3, 2023).
    2. 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2018).
    3. 17 C.F.R. § 229.601(b)(10) (2022).


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