What is a Deficiency Letter?
A deficiency letter is a document sent by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States to the issuers of intended public stock offerings. The deficiency letter results from an examination of a preliminary prospectus of such offerings by the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), an agency of the SEC, which administrates the Compliance Examination Program. Issuers of securities offerings registered with the SEC will have a preliminary prospectus of the offering examined by the OCIE. A response can be expected within 90 days of completion of the examination. If no deficiencies are found, a letter informing the registrant of that fact will be sent instead of a deficiency letter. Since deficiencies are found in nearly 91% of preliminary prospectuses, a more likely result of this examination is that a deficiency letter will be sent to the issuer enumerating such deficiencies and delineating required corrections. In lieu of, or in addition to a deficie
