What Does The SEC Approved NASDAQ Diversity Proposal Mean For Boards?
Financing Challenges for Small Cap Companies
On July 25, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that at least part of the basis for the currently pending legal attack on the Nasdaq’s proposed...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will likely weigh in soon on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of Nasdaq’s board diversity rule that will require listed companies to disclose...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update....more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed recently to revisit a challenge to Nasdaq's board diversity rule. As we previously reported, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit upheld the rule in October 2023....more
In Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, a panel of three 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges upheld Nasdaq’s rules on board diversity. The rules require each Nasdaq-listed company to disclose information on the...more
We are pleased to share the October 2023 issue of Wilson Sonsini's Sustainability and ESG Advisory Practice Update. Each issue combines news, key legal developments, and resources related to sustainability and environmental,...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Nasdaq's board diversity rule, which the SEC first approved in August 2021 and was then challenged as unconstitutionally discriminatory and an improper...more
The intense focus on board diversity from a variety of stakeholders over the last several years has spurred many companies to examine the composition of their boards and to take action to diversify their boardrooms. While the...more
In August 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved new board diversity listing standards for companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq). As part of these new listing standards, Nasdaq...more
On August 6, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the listing rules proposed by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) to advance board diversity and enhance the transparency of diversity statistics...more
Efforts to increase diversity at the top of public companies remain at the forefront of corporate consciousness and governance. As we have previously reported , stakeholder interest in diversified leadership has led to a...more
On Monday, August 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral argument on a challenge to the Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule (the “Rule”). The Rule requires Nasdaq-listed companies to publicly disclose Board...more
The SEC was once again before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Aug. 29, 2022, this time in connection with the agency's approval of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC's (Nasdaq) Board Diversity Rule (Rule). The...more
Board diversity continues to be a concerted area of focus for companies, investors, regulators and other stakeholders. Progress continues and the importance of board diversity is underscored by compelling findings on the...more
All Nasdaq-listed companies must now disclose a board diversity matrix by the later of (1) August 8, 2022, or (2) the date the company files its proxy statement for the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders (or, if companies do...more
Under Nasdaq's new Rule 5606, the board diversity disclosure rule, the deadline for most Nasdaq-listed companies to publicly disclose diversity statistics regarding their board of directors using a Board Diversity Matrix is...more
Introduction In April 2022, the UK Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") finalized new rules to encourage the disclosure of diversity data by listed companies, whether based in the UK or abroad. Across the pond, the U.S....more
On August 6, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the proposed rules submitted by the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) relating to diversity on the boards of directors of Nasdaq listed companies (the...more
The California courts have cast doubt on the legality of laws mandating the number of women and individuals from “underrepresented communities” on the boards of directors of publicly traded corporations based in California....more
Two recent rulings by California state court judges have struck-down California statutes that were intended to foster diversity at California-based public companies. In the first case, Crest v. Padilla, No. 20-STCV-37513...more
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
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that in-scope issuers for financial years starting on or after April 1, 2022, will be required to provide disclosures with respect to the diversity of their boards and...more
On the heels of the April 1, 2022 court decision striking down California’s groundbreaking statute requiring underrepresented community mandates for corporate boards, a different trial court dealt the state’s corporate...more
Despite a California superior court’s recent ruling against a 2020 California law (AB 979), the move toward increasing board diversity is alive and well, as proxy advisory firms, institutional investors, Nasdaq and others...more
On April 1, 2022, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, granted a summary judgment motion that effectively struck down AB 979, a California statute requiring the boards of public corporations based in the...more