The SEC’s Fall 2022 “Reg Flex” agenda was recently published by the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Chair Gensler sets the agency’s agenda, which provides a glimpse into how the agency will...more
On December 13, 2022, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published seven new or revised Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DIs”)...more
On December 13, 2022, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published seven new or revised Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DIs”)...more
12/20/2022
/ C&DIs ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Reporting ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 10-Q ,
Form 8-K ,
GAAP ,
New Guidance ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously adopted final rules relating to Rule 10b5-1 plans. Properly structured, a Rule 10b5-1 plan provides an affirmative defense to Rule 10b-5 liability for...more
Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis (GL) have issued their policy updates for the upcoming 2023 proxy season. In general, ISS’s updates build incrementally on positions the firm has...more
12/7/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies
The SEC published final rules in late August 2022 that will require new pay versus performance disclosure in 2023 proxy statements, as described in our earlier client alert. These rules will require companies that are not...more
12/1/2022
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Reporting ,
Pay Ratio ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On November 15, 2022, the SEC announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30, reporting the following key metrics and highlights...more
On October 26, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted regulations (the “final rules”) implementing Section 10D of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), which was added by the...more
11/2/2022
/ Clawbacks ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Section 10D ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On September 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged the CEO, Sheng Fu, and former president, Ming Xu, of Chinese-based technology company Cheetah Mobile Inc. (“Cheetah Mobile” or the...more
9/30/2022
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations
The SEC published final rules in late August 2022 that will require new pay versus performance disclosure in 2023 proxy statements, as described in our recent client alert. These rules will require companies that are not...more
9/16/2022
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Executive Compensation ,
Final Rules ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smaller Reporting Companies ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted final rules that will require significant new disclosures in proxy and information statements about the relationship between executive compensation actually paid...more
On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8, which specifies the conditions under which companies can exclude shareholder proposals from the company’s proxy...more
The 2022 Amendments have removed the requirements that call for proxy advisory firms claiming an exemption from proxy filing rules for solicitations to provide their proxy voting advice to subject companies and provide their...more
On June 3, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had adopted amendments to its rules that will require electronic filing or submission of a variety of documents that SEC rules currently...more
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on April 5, 2012 and aimed to improve access to public capital markets for emerging growth companies. While largely considered a...more
5/24/2022
/ Dodd-Frank ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JOBS Act ,
Pay Ratio ,
Private Placements ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulation D ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Small Offering Exemptions
Ruling Follows Similar Decision on Underrepresented Minority Directors in April 2022 -
A California court has held that California Senate Bill 826, which required that “publicly held” corporations that listed a California...more
5/20/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Form 10-K ,
Gender Equity ,
Institutional Investors ,
Listing Rules ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Constitutions ,
UK ,
Woman Board Members
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed amendments that would require domestic and foreign companies to include certain climate-related information in registration statements and periodic reports. Like...more
Board diversity is one of the most visible corporate governance topics today. As the pressure to diversify boards continues to increase, we anticipate that key constituencies for all types of entities, including nonprofits,...more
On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) held an open meeting to consider proposed rules and amendments regarding special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), shell companies, and...more
4/1/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
New Rules ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Reverse Mergers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shell Corporations ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
As a significant step in its ongoing initiatives on the disclosure, management and oversight of cybersecurity risks and incidents, on March 9, 2022 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules that...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is implementing a campaign to overhaul the agency’s expectations around cybersecurity and cyber incident reporting for the financial services industry and corporate America...more
2/15/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-P ,
Regulation SCI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Service Provider
Amendments adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have changed a variety of SEC rules, forms and schedules related to disclosure and payment of SEC filing fees. As summarized in an SEC fact sheet, the...more
The SPAC market has withstood many challenges throughout 2021, including softening of the private investment in public equity (PIPE) market for a majority of the year after a very robust first quarter for initial business...more
1/7/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Backstop Agreements ,
Breach of Duty ,
Capital Markets ,
Class Action ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investigations ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPEs) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Share Redemption ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Target Company
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted final amendments that, in conjunction with final rules adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) earlier this year and the recent...more
12/30/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
PCAOB ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On December 15, 2021 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had proposed rules that would enhance and expand existing reporting of share repurchases by companies. The most significant proposal...more