The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Division of Enforcement has recently brought a spate of enforcement actions relating to key topics for public companies. These include enforcement actions related to...more
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 September 9, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced settled charges against seven public companies for violation of the whistleblower protection rule in connection with employment, separation,...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced parallel actions against an activist short seller and his firm, charging them with multiple counts of securities fraud....more
On July 18, 2024, a New York federal judge dismissed most of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s ("SEC") claims against SolarWinds Corp. ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") and its Chief Information Security Officer...more
On April 5, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") won a jury verdict in its first "shadow trading" insider trading action. Only a few weeks before this verdict, a court denied a motion to dismiss a...more
4/16/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Good Faith ,
Healthcare ,
Insider Trading ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Mergers ,
Non-Public Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party
On February 6, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that it settled accounting fraud charges against Cloopen Group Holding Limited ("Cloopen" or the "Company"), a cloud-based communications...more
On October 30, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that it filed charges against SolarWinds Corp. ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") and its Chief Information Security Officer ("CISO") in connection...more
11/15/2023
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Fraud ,
Information Technology ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
Investors ,
Material Misstatements ,
Misleading Statements ,
NIST ,
Omissions ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Software ,
Vulnerability Assessments
Recently, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "the Commission") announced charges against eight celebrities, including Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Lindsay Lohan, and Ne-Yo for unlawfully touting digital tokens...more
On February 3, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that a public company agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges of, among other things, violations of the whistleblower protection rule.1...more
3/8/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employees ,
Enforcement ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
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
Although the record-breaking deal activity of 2021 spilled over into 2022, headwinds in the first quarter developed into a significant slowdown during the rest of 2022, with an expectation of continued slowness as we enter...more
1/30/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Buyers ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Domestic Dealmaking ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Dealmaking ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Real Estate Market ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sellers ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Technology
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)
On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") proposed rules that would require public companies to make prescribed cybersecurity disclosures. The proposed rules would "strengthen investors' ability to...more
3/15/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investors ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On January 14, 2022, in a closely watched decision, a federal judge in the Northern District of California denied a motion to dismiss a complaint brought by the US. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") that presented a...more
In a landmark action, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filed a complaint alleging insider trading that expands the potential reach of insider trading law. On August 17, 2021, the SEC charged a former employee...more