Each year in our Annual Memo series, White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group provides practical insights on preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-Ks, Annual Meeting Proxy Statements and, for FPIs, the Annual Report on Form...more
With the 2025 annual reporting season upon us, public companies should consider potential updates to their risk factors for their Form 10-Ks and 20-Fs in light of recent economic, political, technological, and regulatory...more
1/16/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector
Notwithstanding recent reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has quietly disbanded its Climate and ESG Task Force,1 and while the SEC’s new climate-related disclosure rules remain stayed,2 the SEC’s...more
On April 4, 2024, less than one month after their adoption, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has chosen to stay its newly adopted climate disclosure rules, pending judicial review (the "Final Rules"). The...more
On March 6, 2024, in a 3 to 2 vote of the Commissioners, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopted rules that will require public companies to disclose extensive climate change-related information in their...more
Each year in our Annual Memo, White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group provides practical insights on preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-Ks, Annual Meeting Proxy Statements and, for FPIs, the Annual Report on Form 20-F....more
1/8/2024
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
As we embark on our third year of Latin America Focus, the ever-evolving landscape in the region brings fresh opportunities and challenges for local, regional and international businesses.
After an extremely positive...more
11/6/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Chapter 11 ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Insolvency ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Latin America ,
Lithium Batteries ,
Minerals ,
Mining ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Tax Treaty
Part I of our two-part Annual Memo series identified important considerations when preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-K in 2023. Part II of this memo below, describes our key considerations for 2023 Annual Meeting Proxy...more
This memorandum outlines key considerations from White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group for foreign private issuers ("FPIs") during the 2023 annual reporting season....more
1/19/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 20-F ,
IFRS ,
MD&A Statements ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Factors ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Ukraine ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC ("Glass Lewis"), the two major proxy advisory firms, recently issued their updated proxy voting guidelines for the 2023 proxy season. These policy updates...more
12/22/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Overboarding ,
Popular ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
The Annual Report season will soon be upon us, and it is important to assess a company's risk factors at the outset and whether recent developments, including those relating to macroeconomic, geopolitical, and public health...more
11/1/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Global Economy ,
Human Capital ,
Interest Rates ,
Investors ,
Market Conditions ,
Military Conflict ,
Price Inflation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Factors ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
The regulatory landscape for ESG disclosure by U.S. public companies faces potentially dramatic changes, with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposing rules that would mandate comprehensive climate change...more
This memorandum outlines key considerations for U.S. public companies in preparation for the 2022 annual reporting and proxy season.
▪️ Part I of this memo, which was published in January 2022, describes key...more
2/21/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
This memorandum outlines key considerations from White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group for foreign private issuers ("FPIs") during the 2022 annual reporting season.
This memo describes our key considerations for...more
2/2/2022
/ Balance Sheets ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Statements ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 20-F ,
GAAP ,
Libor ,
MD&A Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This is Part I of a two-part series outlining key considerations from White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group for US public companies during the 2022 annual reporting and proxy season.
Part I of this memo describes...more
1/12/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Audits ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Equity ,
Form 10-K ,
Human Capital ,
Libor ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Proxy Season ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain
In the past few weeks, both major proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC ("Glass Lewis"), have issued their updated proxy voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. These...more
12/16/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On November 3, 2021, Corp Fin issued new guidance which signals a major shift in the SEC’s approach to no-action requests to exclude shareholder proposals relating to environmental and social ("E&S") matters. Previously, the...more
11/5/2021
/ Business Exclusion ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Micromanagement ,
No-Action Relief ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability
On September 22, 2021, in a step that emphasizes the SEC's increased focus on climate change disclosure, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance ("Corp Fin") issued a sample letter for public companies containing comments...more
While ESG issues have been a "hot topic" for several years, in recent weeks, the SEC has significantly increased its focus on the topic, paying particular attention to climate:
- Corp Fin to Focus on Climate Disclosure: On...more
This memorandum outlines key considerations from White & Case's Public Company Advisory Practice for US public companies in preparation for the 2021 annual reporting and proxy season.
Section I of this memo, which was...more
3/9/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
CD&A ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This memorandum outlines key considerations from White & Case’s Public Company Advisory Practice for foreign private issuers (“FPIs”) in preparation for the 2020 annual reporting season. It describes our key considerations...more
1/23/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
C&DIs ,
Confidential Information ,
Corp Fin ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 20-F ,
IFRS ,
Libor ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
PCAOB ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
State Sponsors of Terrorism ,
UK Brexit ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
In light of the increased spotlight on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) disclosures, White & Case’s Public Company Advisory Group conducted a survey of environmental and social (“E&S”) disclosures in the...more
6/27/2019
/ Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Fortune 100 ,
Materiality ,
Oversight Duties ,
Popular ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Supply Chain ,
Surveys ,
Sustainability