Following another year of increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations by companies, investors and regulators alike, ESG appears to have cemented its position in the corporate landscape...more
2/2/2023
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Energy ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
In December 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) modified the rules governing preset stock trading programs for corporate insiders, known as 10b5-1 plans, which begin taking effect this year. The new rules...more
1/27/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Requirements ,
Insider Trading ,
New Amendments ,
New Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On December 14, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted several amendments and new disclosure requirements intended to address what it perceives may be abusive practices relating to Rule 10b5-1 trading...more
12/23/2022
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Amended Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Disclosure ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Insider Trading ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
To prepare for 2023, reporting companies should be aware of applicable SEC filing deadlines and financial statement “staleness” dates, as well as regulatory reforms that may affect the preparation and contents of disclosures...more
12/22/2022
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Board of Directors ,
Capital Markets ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure ,
Final Rules ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
To prepare for 2023, reporting companies should be aware of applicable SEC filing deadlines and financial statement “staleness” dates, as well as regulatory reforms that may affect the preparation and contents of disclosures...more
12/22/2022
/ Capital Markets ,
Capital Raising ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smaller Reporting Companies
As companies grapple with the business challenges that rising interest rates and an uncertain economic outlook present, there are the inevitable questions about whether companies should worry less about environmental, social...more
12/20/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employees ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investors ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2023 annual meeting and reporting season.
We have compiled this overview of key issues — including SEC disclosure requirements, recent SEC guidance,...more
On October 26, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted long-awaited final rules implementing the incentive-based compensation recovery (clawback) provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. The final rules...more
On August 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules requiring public companies to disclose the relationship between the executive compensation actually paid to the company’s named...more
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations continued to play a key role in the first six months of 2022, with geopolitical circumstances resulting in a reexamination of a number of ESG beliefs. In our 11...more
On June 3, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to modernize how certain information is filed or submitted to the SEC. In particular, the amendments will require, among other things, that...more
Conflict minerals disclosures on Forms SD are required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) no later than May 31, 2022.
The conflict minerals disclosure rules and related guidance have remained at...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-1 to propose long-anticipated rules mandating climate-related disclosures in companies’ annual reports and registration statements. The proposed rules...more
3/29/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Rules ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On February 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it unanimously voted to approve proposed changes requiring certain institutional investment managers (managers) to report short...more
On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules that are intended to enhance and standardize disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance, as well as cybersecurity...more
As companies finalize materials for annual shareholder meetings, we recommend consideration of the following key requirements and disclosures:
SEC proxy filing requirements; website and submission requirements; proxy...more
3/7/2022
/ Annual Meeting ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
Takeaways - Independence is neither a fixed condition nor a universal status for all purposes. Events and relationships can disqualify an otherwise independent director from participating in decisions.. No matter how pure a...more
Throughout 2021, the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters proved to be even greater than many had expected, with ESG becoming a key area of focus for a range of stakeholders, particularly in the...more
On December 15, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed several amendments and new disclosure requirements intended to address what it perceives as potentially abusive practices engaged in by public...more
12/23/2021
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Insider Trading ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Repurchases
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2022 annual meeting and reporting season.
We have compiled this overview of key issues — including SEC disclosure requirements, recent SEC guidance,...more
12/8/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Insider Trading ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
On August 6, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Nasdaq Stock Market’s (Nasdaq) proposal to amend its listing standards to encourage greater board diversity and to require board diversity...more
As anticipated, the staff in the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance has begun issuing detailed comments regarding climate-related disclosures.1 In February 2021, then Acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee announced that she...more
The rapidly growing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters that marked 2020 continued to shape events for companies operating or based in the U.K. and Europe in 2021. Discussions of ESG are occurring at...more
9/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Green Bonds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
On August 19, 2021, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed an immediately effective rule change (Rule Proposal) restoring a transaction value and materiality threshold for related party transactions that require independent...more
8/26/2021
/ Audit Committee ,
Board of Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Independent Directors ,
Listed Company Manual ,
Listing Standards ,
NYSE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On August 6, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved1 the Nasdaq Stock Market’s (Nasdaq) proposal to amend its listing standards to encourage greater board diversity and to require board diversity...more