Overview

EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) is the SEC's primary system for receiving, processing, and disseminating corporate filings required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933. All publicly traded companies in the United States, as well as foreign private issuers listed on US exchanges, must file periodic reports, registration statements, proxy materials, and other disclosures through EDGAR. The system processes approximately 3,000 filings per day and maintains an archive of over 21 million filings dating back to 1993.

For OSINT purposes, EDGAR is among the most valuable financial intelligence sources globally. It provides access to annual reports (10-K), quarterly reports (10-Q), insider trading disclosures (Form 4), beneficial ownership reports (Schedule 13D/G), proxy statements (DEF 14A), and hundreds of other filing types. These filings reveal executive compensation structures, related-party transactions, risk factor assessments, pending legal proceedings, material contracts, and subsidiary structures -- intelligence that is directly relevant to due diligence, competitive analysis, investment research, and cross-border investigations.

The SEC's commitment to transparency means that EDGAR data is freely accessible with no authentication requirements. The 2023 introduction of the EDGAR Full-Text Search System (EFTS) and the expanding XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) mandate further enhance the platform's value by enabling structured data extraction from financial statements and full-text keyword searches across all filings.

Within the Prismatic Platform, SEC EDGAR provides the US financial disclosure intelligence layer, enabling cross-border financial analysis for entities with US market exposure and complementing Czech registry data for multinational investigations.

Data Sources and Coverage

EDGAR contains filings from all SEC-registered entities, which includes approximately 8,000+ actively reporting public companies, thousands of investment funds, and numerous other regulated entities.

Filing Type	Description	OSINT Value	Update Frequency
10-K	Annual report	Financial performance, risk factors, legal proceedings	Annual
10-Q	Quarterly report	Recent financial trends, management discussion	Quarterly
8-K	Current report	Material events (M&A, bankruptcy, officer changes)	Event-driven
DEF 14A	Proxy statement	Executive pay, board composition, related-party deals	Annual
Form 4	Insider transactions	Director/officer buying/selling signals	Within 2 business days
13D	Beneficial ownership	Activist ownership, hostile takeover indicators	Within 10 days of 5% threshold
13G	Passive ownership	Institutional holdings above 5%	Annual/amendment
S-1	IPO registration	Pre-IPO company details, use of proceeds	Pre-IPO
20-F	Foreign annual	Foreign private issuer comprehensive annual report	Annual
6-K	Foreign current	Foreign private issuer material event disclosure	Event-driven
SC 13D/A	Ownership amendment	Changes in activist positions	Amendment-driven

XBRL Structured Financial Data

Since 2009, the SEC has progressively mandated XBRL tagging of financial statements, creating machine-readable structured data for:

Income statements (revenue, expenses, net income)
Balance sheets (assets, liabilities, equity)
Cash flow statements (operating, investing, financing activities)
Individual line items with US-GAAP taxonomy codes

Technical Architecture

EDGAR provides multiple access methods for different use cases:

Access Method	Endpoint	Use Case
Company Search	`/cgi-bin/browse-edgar`	Find companies and filings by name or CIK
Full-Text Search	`/cgi-bin/srqsb`	Keyword search across all filing content
XBRL API	`/api/xbrl/companyfacts/`	Structured financial data in JSON
Submissions API	`/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany`	Company filing history
Bulk Data	`https://efts.sec.gov/`	Full-text search index downloads
RSS Feeds	`/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcurrent`	Real-time filing notifications

Filing Submission                    Public Access
+------------------+                +--------------------+
| Companies submit |                | EDGAR Website      |
| via EDGAR Filing |----> EDGAR --> | XBRL API           |
| System           |     System     | Full-Text Search   |
+------------------+                | Bulk Downloads     |
                                    | RSS Feeds          |
                                    +--------------------+

The SEC requires a User-Agent header with contact information for all programmatic access. Rate limiting is enforced at 10 requests per second.

API Integration

defmodule Prismatic.Osint.SecEdgar do
  @moduledoc """
  Adapter for SEC EDGAR corporate filing database.
  Provides access to US public company filings, financial data,
  insider transactions, and beneficial ownership disclosures.
  """

  @base_url "https://efts.sec.gov/LATEST"
  @xbrl_url "https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl"
  @user_agent "PrismaticPlatform/1.0 (contact@prismatic.io)"

  @doc """
  Search for companies by name or ticker symbol.
  """
  @spec search(String.t()) :: {:ok, list(map())} | {:error, term()}
  def search(query) do
    url = "#{@base_url}/search-index?q=#{URI.encode(query)}&dateRange=custom&startdt=2020-01-01"

    with {:ok, response} <- http_get(url) do
      {:ok, parse_company_results(response)}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Get recent filings for a company by CIK, with optional form type filter.
  """
  @spec filings(String.t(), keyword()) :: {:ok, list(map())} | {:error, term()}
  def filings(cik, opts \\ []) do
    form_type = Keyword.get(opts, :form_type)
    limit = Keyword.get(opts, :limit, 10)

    url = "https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK#{pad_cik(cik)}.json"

    with {:ok, response} <- http_get(url) do
      filings = response["filings"]["recent"]
      filtered = if form_type, do: filter_by_form(filings, form_type, limit), else: take_recent(filings, limit)
      {:ok, filtered}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Get insider trading transactions (Form 4) for a company.
  """
  @spec insider_transactions(String.t()) :: {:ok, list(map())} | {:error, term()}
  def insider_transactions(cik) do
    filings(cik, form_type: "4", limit: 50)
  end

  @doc """
  Get XBRL structured financial data for a company.
  """
  @spec company_facts(String.t()) :: {:ok, map()} | {:error, term()}
  def company_facts(cik) do
    url = "#{@xbrl_url}/companyfacts/CIK#{pad_cik(cik)}.json"

    with {:ok, response} <- http_get(url) do
      {:ok, %{
        cik: response["cik"],
        entity_name: response["entityName"],
        facts: parse_xbrl_facts(response["facts"])
      }}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Full-text search across all EDGAR filings.
  """
  @spec full_text_search(String.t(), keyword()) :: {:ok, list(map())} | {:error, term()}
  def full_text_search(query, opts \\ []) do
    form_type = Keyword.get(opts, :form_type)
    params = %{q: query, forms: form_type}
    url = "#{@base_url}/search-index?#{URI.encode_query(params)}"

    http_get(url)
  end

  defp http_get(url) do
    headers = [{"User-Agent", @user_agent}]

    case Prismatic.Http.get(url, headers) do
      {:ok, %{status: 200, body: body}} -> {:ok, Jason.decode!(body)}
      {:ok, %{status: status}} -> {:error, {:http_error, status}}
      {:error, reason} -> {:error, reason}
    end
  end

  defp pad_cik(cik), do: String.pad_leading(cik, 10, "0")
end

Financial Intelligence Pipeline

defmodule PrismaticPerimeter.Intelligence.USFinancialIntelligence do
  @moduledoc """
  Extracts financial intelligence from SEC filings for cross-border
  analysis and due diligence of entities with US market exposure.
  """

  @spec analyze_us_entity(String.t()) :: {:ok, map()} | {:error, term()}
  def analyze_us_entity(cik) do
    tasks = [
      Task.async(fn -> SecEdgar.filings(cik, form_type: "10-K", limit: 3) end),
      Task.async(fn -> SecEdgar.insider_transactions(cik) end),
      Task.async(fn -> SecEdgar.company_facts(cik) end),
      Task.async(fn -> SecEdgar.filings(cik, form_type: "13D", limit: 5) end)
    ]

    [annual, insider, facts, ownership] = Task.await_many(tasks, 20_000)

    {:ok, %{
      financial_filings: extract_ok(annual),
      insider_activity: summarize_insider(extract_ok(insider)),
      structured_financials: extract_ok(facts),
      major_shareholders: extract_ok(ownership),
      risk_indicators: extract_risk_factors(annual),
      analyzed_at: DateTime.utc_now()
    }}
  end
end

Use Cases

Financial Due Diligence

EDGAR filings contain the most detailed financial disclosures required by any securities regulator, making them essential for thorough due diligence on US-listed entities.

Analyze annual and quarterly financial statements with XBRL structured data
Review risk factor disclosures (Item 1A of 10-K) for identified and emerging risks
Track executive compensation and related-party transactions in proxy statements
Cross-reference with Companies House for dual-listed companies

Insider Trading Analysis

Form 4 filings provide near real-time visibility into securities transactions by directors, officers, and 10% shareholders.

Monitor director and officer securities transactions for buying/selling patterns
Detect unusual trading activity before major corporate events
Track beneficial ownership stake changes through 13D/G filings
Identify activist investor campaigns signaled by 13D filings

Cross-Border Intelligence

For multinational investigations, EDGAR filings reveal US operations, subsidiaries, and financial exposure of global entities.

US filings for companies with Czech/EU operations (geographic segment disclosures)
Subsidiary identification through Exhibit 21 of 10-K filings
Cross-reference with EU Sanctions and OFAC
Track foreign private issuer filings (20-F) for US-listed non-US companies

Competitive and Market Intelligence

Public filings contain rich competitive intelligence including market analysis, customer concentrations, and strategic direction.

Revenue segmentation by product, geography, and customer
Risk factors revealing competitive threats and market dynamics
Material contract disclosures identifying key business relationships
Management discussion and analysis (MD&A) for strategic direction signals

Data Quality and Reliability

Quality Dimension	Assessment	Notes
Authority	Definitive	SEC-mandated filings with legal liability for accuracy
Completeness	Very High	All US-registered public companies required to file
Timeliness	High	Real-time filing availability; insider transactions within 2 days
Accuracy	Very High	CEO/CFO certification under Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Accessibility	Excellent	Free, open access with structured XBRL data
Historical Depth	Excellent	Archive from 1993 to present

Platform Integration

Component	Integration	Purpose
Due Diligence	Financial analysis	US entity financial verification and risk assessment
Perimeter	Cross-border intelligence	US market exposure for entities under assessment
Compliance	Sanctions screening	Cross-reference filings with sanctions lists
Intelligence	Insider trading alerts	Monitor insider activity for investigation targets

NABLA Compliance

Axiom	Implementation
Signal Plurality	EDGAR data cross-referenced with Companies House, ARES, and commercial databases
Provenance Mandatory	All filing data tagged with CIK, accession number, and filing date
Time Decay	Financial data timestamped by period and filing date; aging alerts for stale analysis
Contradiction Preservation	Restatements and amended filings preserved alongside originals

Performance Metrics

Metric	Target	Typical
Company Search	< 1s	~500ms
Filing Retrieval	< 2s	~800ms
XBRL Company Facts	< 3s	~1.5s (large JSON payload)
Full-Text Search	< 3s	~2s
Insider Transactions	< 2s	~1s
Rate Limit Compliance	10 req/s	Enforced with token bucket

Financial Intelligence

Companies House - UK company data for dual-listed entities
EBR - European Business Registry for EU subsidiaries

Sanctions and Compliance

OFAC - US Treasury sanctions (same jurisdiction)
EU Sanctions - EU sanctions for cross-border screening

Czech Entity Cross-Reference

ARES - Czech subsidiary identification
Justice.cz - Czech entity cross-referencing

Platform Components

OSINT Core - Core OSINT framework and adapter layer
Prismatic Perimeter - Cross-border financial intelligence

Connect & Contribute

Created by Tomáš Korcak (korczis) | Open Source under GHL

GitHub | GitLab | LinkedIn | Contact
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SEC EDGAR

Capabilities

Try SEC EDGAR

Overview

Data Sources and Coverage

XBRL Structured Financial Data

Technical Architecture

API Integration

Financial Intelligence Pipeline

Use Cases

Financial Due Diligence

Insider Trading Analysis

Cross-Border Intelligence

Competitive and Market Intelligence

Data Quality and Reliability

Platform Integration

NABLA Compliance

Performance Metrics

Financial Intelligence

Sanctions and Compliance

Czech Entity Cross-Reference

Platform Components

Connect & Contribute

Intelligence Network

Related Content

Agent Ecosystem

Applications

Doctrine

SEC EDGAR

Capabilities

Try SEC EDGAR

Overview

Data Sources and Coverage

XBRL Structured Financial Data

Technical Architecture

API Integration

Financial Intelligence Pipeline

Use Cases

Financial Due Diligence

Insider Trading Analysis

Cross-Border Intelligence

Competitive and Market Intelligence

Data Quality and Reliability

Platform Integration

NABLA Compliance

Performance Metrics

Related Resources

Financial Intelligence

Sanctions and Compliance

Czech Entity Cross-Reference

Platform Components

Connect & Contribute

Intelligence Network

Related Content

Agent Ecosystem

Applications

Doctrine