On January 27, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to reopen the comment period on the pay versus performance rule that it proposed in 2015 (2015 Proposal). The proposed rule being contemplated would...more
On November 3, 2021, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L (SLB 14L), providing information regarding the...more
11/9/2021
/ Corporate Governance ,
New Guidance ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Rule 14a-8(i)(7) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On October 14, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a release reopening the comment period (Reopening Release) on the clawback listing standard rule that it proposed in 2015 (2015 Proposal). Interested...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is actively reconsidering its position on the applicability of its proxy rules to proxy voting advice.
Background -
In July 2020, the SEC adopted amendments to its proxy...more
On April 16, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a release reopening the comment period (Reopening Release) on its proposal for a mandatory universal proxy to be used for all contested director...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has amended Regulation S-T and the EDGAR Filer Manual to permit the use of electronic signatures for filings on EDGAR that are required to be signed and has made corresponding...more
Preparations are key to a successful proxy and annual report season, and autumn is not too early to begin. While work on proxy statements, annual reports and annual meetings typically kicks into high gear in the winter,...more
10/1/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On August 26, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize business, legal proceedings and risk factor disclosures. According to the SEC, the...more
On June 23, 2020, the Division of Corporation Finance (Division) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 9A (CF 9A), providing guidance on operations, liquidity, and capital...more
On April 8, 2020, the Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) – Jay Clayton – and the Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance – William Hinman – issued a joint statement titled The...more
On January 30, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided guidance (MD&A Guidance) regarding the disclosure of key performance indicators and metrics used in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of...more
2/5/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Statements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
MD&A Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Omissions ,
Performance Standards ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On December 18, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules for the reporting of certain payments by resource extraction issuers (the “proposed rules”). The proposed rules represent the third attempt...more
1/30/2020
/ Compliance Dates ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Foreign Governments ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Resource Extraction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Source of Payments
With the 2020 proxy and annual reporting season upon us, this Legal Update provides 10 tips for companies to consider when drafting annual reports on Form 10-K and proxy statements for filing with the US Securities and...more
1/21/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EDGAR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 10-K ,
Hedging ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Libor ,
MD&A Statements ,
Median Employee ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Technology ,
UK Brexit
During the last two weeks of 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission offered guidance and reminders relating to the role of audit committees, international intellectual property and technology risks, and confidential...more
1/8/2020
/ Audit Committee ,
Auditor Independence ,
Audits ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
ICFR ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Libor ,
New Guidance ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tone At The Top
On November 5, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed several amendments to Rule 14a-8 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The proposed amendments are intended to “recognize the...more
11/13/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Stock Ownership
On October 16, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K to provide additional guidance on shareholder proposals submitted pursuant to Rule...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced an increase in the filing fees to be paid by public companies and other issuers during the SEC’s 2020 fiscal year. ...more
8/29/2019
/ Corporate Issuers ,
Filing Fees ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Stock Repurchases
With the increased concentration of share ownership by institutional investors over the past several decades, the influence of proxy advisory firms on shareholder votes has grown dramatically, all while the proxy regulatory...more
On August 8, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize business, legal proceedings and risk factor disclosures. According to the SEC, the...more
On February 6, 2019, the staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued two identical Regulation S-K compliance and disclosure interpretations (C&DIs)...more
On October 31, 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) issued a final rule (Final Rule) to modernize required property disclosures for mining registrants. ...more