260.0 — Office of the Commission

(a) General. The principal office of the Commission, at 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549, is open each day, except Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, provided that the hours for the filing of documents with the Commission are as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.

Information or documents obtained by officers or employees of the Commission in the course of any examination or investigation under section 8(e) of the Securities Act of 1933 (48 Stat. 79; 15 U.S.C. 77h), pursuant to section 307(c) of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1156; 15 U.S.C. 77ggg), or any examination or investigation under section 20(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (48 Stat. 86; 15 U.S.C. 77t), pursuant to section 321(a) of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1174; 15 U.S.C. 77uuu), shall, unless made a matter of public record, be deemed confidential. Except as provided by 17 CFR 203.2, officers and employees are hereby prohibited from making such confidential information or documents or any other non-public records of the Commission available to anyone other than a member, officer or employee of the Commission, unless the Commission or the General Counsel, pursuant to delegated authority, authorizes the disclosure of such information or the production of such documents as not being contrary to the public interest. Any officer or employee who is served with a subpoena requiring the disclosure of such information or the production of such documents shall appear in court and, unless the authorization described in the preceding sentence shall have been given, shall respectfully decline to disclose the information or produce the documents called for, basing his or her refusal upon this section. Any officer or employee who is served with such a subpoena shall promptly advise the General Counsel of the service of such subpoena, the nature of the information or documents sought, and any circumstances which may bear upon the desirability of making available such information or documents.

For purposes of Commission rulemaking in accordance with the provisions of Chapter Six of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and unless otherwise defined for purposes of a particular rulemaking proceeding, the term “small business” or “small organization,” for purposes of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 shall mean an issuer whose total assets on the last day of its most recent fiscal year were $5 million or less that is engaged or proposing to engage in small business financing. An issuer is considered to be engaged or proposing to be engaged in small business financing under this section if it is conducting or proposing to conduct an offering of securities which does not exceed the dollar limitation prescribed by § 260.4a-2.

(a) A statement within the coverage of paragraph (b) below which is made by or on behalf of an issuer or by an outside reviewer retained by the issuer shall be deemed not to be a fraudulent statement (as defined in paragraph (d) of this section), unless it is shown that such statement was made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or was disclosed other than in good faith.