In this midyear update, we cover a number of significant corporate governance developments that have taken place over the first half of the year and since our Corporate Governance 2023 Year-End Review....more
On April 5, 2024, a federal jury in San Francisco returned a verdict in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Panuwat. The jury found that a corporate executive had...more
After a 3-2 vote on March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules for public companies requiring disclosure of climate risk and greenhouse gas emissions. Although scaled back substantially...more
The Fifth Circuit has vacated the opinion we discussed in our Oct. 30, 2023, client alert Diversity in the Boardroom: Fifth Circuit Rejects Challenge to the SEC Nasdaq Board Diversity Rules; En Banc Petition Quickly Filed and...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Court) recently rejected challenges to Nasdaq’s “Board Diversity” framework. Those rules require Nasdaq-listed companies to report that they have, or explain why they do not...more
On Feb. 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rule amendments to Exchange Act Rule 15c6-1 to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most securities transactions from two business days after trade...more
On Dec. 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that AT&T has agreed to a $6.25 million penalty, resolving charges brought against it under the securities rule known as Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation...more
Efforts to increase diversity at the top of public companies remain at the forefront of corporate consciousness and governance. As we have previously reported , stakeholder interest in diversified leadership has led to a...more
On Sept. 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it brought an enforcement action against two executives of Cheetah Mobile, a publicly traded Chinese app developer, for selling the company’s...more
On May 13, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, issued a verdict following a bench trial that effectively struck down SB 826, a California statute requiring the boards of public corporations based in the...more
On April 1, 2022, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, granted a summary judgment motion that effectively struck down AB 979, a California statute requiring the boards of public corporations based in the...more
As noted in previous client alerts (including here), boardroom diversity continues to be an increasing focus of stakeholders ranging from legislators to institutional investors to retail stockholders. In recent years, their...more
Judge William H. Orrick of the Northern District of California recently denied a motion to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) first insider trading case charging a defendant with “shadow trading.” The...more
2021 was a busy year for corporate governance matters, with new legislation passed early in the year and new enforcement priorities emerging under the Biden administration. Kramer Levin lawyers published numerous articles...more
1/6/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Caremark claim ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In its recent decision in Yatra Online, Inc. v. Ebix, Inc., Case No. 2020-0444-JRS, 2021 WL 3855514 (Del. Ch. Aug. 30, 2021) (Slights, V.C.), the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed plaintiff’s breach of contract and other...more
Despite SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s recent statement that formal rules related to Environmental Social Governance (ESG) may slip to next year, the SEC recently began sending out letters prompting public companies to review and...more
As we have discussed in prior alerts, expanding boardroom diversity has been a recent focus for many regulators, issuers, shareholders and other stakeholders. To this end, in December 2020, Nasdaq Inc. proposed new rules that...more
On Friday, June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed its Agency Rule List for Spring 2021 with the Office of Management and Budget. The Agency Rule List gives clarity to when companies can expect to see...more
6/16/2021
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
As we noted in a previous client alert, the Biden administration has taken significant steps to strengthen enforcement and oversight relating to ESG issues early on in its tenure. In January, the president issued an executive...more
6/2/2021
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
Most of the recent shareholder litigation that has followed the current wave of Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) offerings and associated business combinations has been based on federal securities law claims. ...more
In a prior alert, we noted that a number of shareholder lawsuits were brought during 2020 in which large corporations and their directors were accused of fiduciary breaches and securities law violations tied to the alleged...more
3/26/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivative Complaint ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Facebook ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pleading Standards ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholders
On March 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had charged AT&T and three of its midlevel investor relations executives with violating Regulation FD, a rule that bars issuers from selectively...more
On Dec. 28, 2020, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) proposed amendments to its rules requiring shareholder approval prior to the issuance of securities to Related Parties or in excess of 20% of the issuer’s voting power or...more
In a recent settled administrative proceeding, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the Commission) imposed a $20 million fine and a cease-and-desist order on Andeavor LLC, a Texas energy company, in connection with...more
Recent events have brought renewed attention to the push for greater diversity in the boardroom. In this alert, we discuss several developments highlighting the need for public company directors to remain focused on diversity...more
10/26/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Gender Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Woman Board Members