After much anticipation, on March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its new proposed climate-related disclosure framework, a sweeping overhaul of the current, materiality-based climate change...more
On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules that would require disclosure of the occurrence of, and developments related to, material cybersecurity incidents. The proposed rules would also...more
The 2022 proxy season is just around the corner. This quick reference guide, which is intended to supplement Shearman & Sterling’s 19th Annual Corporate Governance & Executive Compensation Survey, summarizes themes from the...more
It is now time for foreign private issuers (FPIs) to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by...more
On December 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule “intended to improve the quality, relevance and timeliness of information related to issuer share repurchases.” Specifically, the new rule...more
Recent comments by former SEC Chair Clayton and current SEC Chair Gensler called renewed attention to Rule 10b5-1 plans, which had also received recent legislative interest in Congress, contributing to the current rule...more
Today, Shearman & Sterling released its 19th annual Corporate Governance & Executive Compensation Survey, which finds that the boards of directors of the largest 100 U.S. companies have maintained their strong focus on...more
11/4/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Management ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Strategy ,
Cybersecurity ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equity ,
Executive Compensation ,
Human Capital ,
Shareholders
In last year’s Survey, we noted that concern for environmental and social issues (the “E” and the “S” of “ESG”) had reached an inflection point, having taken center stage from the more traditional governance issues (the “G”...more
10/2/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Markets ,
CEOs ,
Commercial Real Estate Market ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Diversity ,
Executive Compensation ,
Golden Parachutes ,
Shareholders
Pursuant to the recently-amended Washington Business Corporation Act (WBCA), effective June 11, 2020, corporations subject to the WBCA that are public companies will be required to either have a “gender-diverse board” by...more
Planning for an unexpected absence or loss of a key person is an important component of enterprise risk management. In the present environment, boards are meeting regularly in real time to address absences of key persons–both...more
As part of its response to the effects and economic disruption that the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) is causing to the worldwide economy, on March 25, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued...more
As part of its response to the effects and economic disruption that the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) is causing to the worldwide economy, on March 25, 2020, the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S....more
As the markets continue to react to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trading prices of many corporate loans and bonds have fallen dramatically. As a result, many companies (or their private equity sponsors) are looking at...more
COVID-19: DISCLOSURE AND CAPITAL MARKETS CONSIDERATIONS FOR US LISTED PUBLIC COMPANIES -
The outbreak and continuing spread of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) and the related disruption to the worldwide economy are...more
Amendments eliminate audited three-year guarantor financial statement footnote and separate financial statements of subsidiaries whose shares are pledged; replaced with unaudited combined summarized financial information for...more
3/10/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Debt Securities ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Guarantors ,
Parent Corporation ,
Public Offerings ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subsidiaries
On December 30, 2019, New York State enacted the “Women on Corporate Boards Study Act” (the “Act”), which requires the New York Department of State and the Department of Taxation and Finance to conduct a study on the number...more
It is now time for foreign private issuers to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by April...more
1/2/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Audit Reports ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBITDA ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 20-F ,
Helms-Burton Act ,
IFRS ,
Libor ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
UK Brexit ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
On September 25, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new rule that will enable all issuers to “test the waters” prior to publicly filing a registration statement. Currently, only emerging growth companies,...more
9/30/2019
/ Accredited Investors ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Institutional Investors ,
New Rules ,
Public Offerings ,
Qualified Institutional Buyers ,
Regulation FD ,
Rule 163B ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Testing-the-Waters Communications
On August 8, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments (the “Proposed Rule”) to modernize its existing requirements for how companies disclose risk factors and describe their business and...more
8/13/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Factors ,
Rule 144A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On May 3, 2019, the SEC proposed for public comment amendments to its rules related to the financial statements required to be disclosed by SEC reporting companies or in IPOs in connection with an acquisition or disposal of a...more
On March 20, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to simplify and modernize disclosure requirements of Regulation S-K and certain forms....more
3/27/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
IFRS ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
MD&A Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
It is now time for foreign private issuers to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by 30...more
1/14/2019
/ Annual Reports ,
C&DIs ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
GAAP ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Libor ,
Mining ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
PCAOB ,
Russia ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Sponsors of Terrorism ,
Trade Policy ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies