On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a modified order extending the time period during which public companies impacted by COVID-19 may delay by 45 days SEC filings that otherwise would...more
On March 2, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments that reduce and simplify the financial disclosure requirements applicable to registered debt offerings for guarantors and issuers of guaranteed...more
3/9/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Debt Securities ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Guarantors ,
Parent Corporation ,
Public Offerings ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subsidiaries
When finalizing proxy materials for annual shareholder meetings, companies should consider the following U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and related guidance, as well as stock exchange listing standards...more
3/4/2020
/ Annual Meeting ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 8-K ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Materials ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Stock Exchange
The SEC issued documents on January 30, 2020, regarding management discussion and analysis (MD&A) and other disclosures.
...more
2/3/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Statements ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In December 2019, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton, SEC Chief Accountant Sagar Teotia and Division of Corporation Finance Director William Hinman jointly issued a statement (Statement)...more
1/21/2020
/ Audit Committee ,
Auditor Independence ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
ICFR ,
Internal Controls ,
Libor ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Policy Statement ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tone At The Top
In December 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published new "CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 8" (Guidance) regarding disclosure obligations companies...more
1/17/2020
/ Corporate Finance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Foreign Ownership ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Relations ,
IP License ,
New Guidance ,
Proprietary Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Technology ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks
In December 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued new "CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 7" (Guidance) regarding confidential treatment requests pursuant to...more
1/17/2020
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Finance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Exemptions ,
FOIA ,
New Guidance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rule 24b-2 ,
Rule 406 ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation
On November 26, 2019, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed a notice of proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would have modified NYSE’s direct listing rules to (1) permit companies to...more
12/10/2019
/ Capital Markets ,
Capital Raising ,
Direct Listing ,
Distribution Rules ,
NPRM ,
NYSE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2020 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of key corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters on which we...more
12/3/2019
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Director Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Glass Lewis ,
Hedging ,
Insider Trading ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
As the end of the year approaches, reporting companies should be aware of the various SEC filing deadlines for 2020. Companies also should be mindful of the 2020 financial statement “staleness” dates, the deadlines by which...more
There have been significant recent developments in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulation of foreign private issuers, (FPIs) including changes that impact the annual report on Form 20-F for fiscal year 2019....more
11/1/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Amended Rules ,
Annual Reports ,
Audit Reports ,
Compliance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 20-F ,
GAAP ,
IASB ,
IFRS ,
Libor ,
MD&A Statements ,
Mining ,
Multinationals ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
PCAOB ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Sustainability ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
UK Brexit ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
On September 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a statement regarding no-action requests to exclude shareholder proposals under Exchange Act Rule...more
On August 8, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced proposed amendments to modernize the rules requiring description of business, legal proceeding and risk factor disclosures pursuant to Regulation S-K....more
As a reminder, conflict minerals disclosures on Forms SD are required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) no later than May 31, 2019. There have not been any notable regulatory updates related to the...more
Rules requiring material agreements to be filed as exhibits to reports and registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were amended to permit the redaction of immaterial and commercially...more
5/20/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Exhibit Issues ,
Extensions ,
FOIA ,
Guide ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Redacted Documents ,
Rule 24b-2 ,
Rule 406 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Sensitive Business Information
On May 3, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed extensive changes to the financial disclosure requirements for business acquisitions and dispositions. The proposed amendments are intended to reduce...more
5/14/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
GAAP ,
IASB ,
IFRS ,
Income Test ,
Investment Test ,
Pro Forma Financial Information ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulation S-X ,
Rule 3-05 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On March 20, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved an amendment to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) requirement that listed companies obtain shareholder approval for certain share issuances. The...more
When finalizing proxy materials for annual shareholder meetings, companies should consider the following U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and related SEC staff guidance, as well as stock exchange listing...more
3/8/2019
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Diversity ,
EDGAR ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 8-K ,
Hedging ,
Listing Rules ,
Listing Standards ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Materials ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Say on Frequency Votes ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Smaller Reporting Companies
On February 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission published new interpretive guidance regarding board diversity disclosures, which should be considered when preparing...more
2/13/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Director Nominations ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
New Guidance ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualification Standards ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Woman Board Members
On January 25, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law a continuing resolution that immediately reopened the federal government through February 15, 2019. The three-week continuing resolution is a welcome development,...more
1/28/2019
/ Continuing Resolution ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Financial Statements ,
Government Shutdown ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Nasdaq ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Letters ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Materials ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Trump Administration ,
Waivers
The SEC recently adopted amendments to disclosure requirements applicable to various registration statements and periodic reports, including minor changes to applicable form cover pages.
...more
On August 17, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amended certain disclosure requirements that have become duplicative or outdated. The amendments, which reflect the SEC’s efforts to implement the Fixing...more
On July 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a concept release soliciting public comment on ways to modernize Rule 701 and Form S-8 of the Securities Act of 1933 to account for recent developments...more
8/3/2018
/ Amended Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Corporate Officers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Stock Purchase Rights ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Statements ,
Form S-8 ,
Offerings ,
Private Offerings ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Rule 701 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solicitation ,
Stock Options ,
Threshold Requirements
On April 27, 2018, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Nasdaq, along with certain technology and biotechnology groups, released a policy paper titled “Expanding...more
5/10/2018
/ Biotechnology ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Markets ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Financial Reporting ,
ICFR ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Investment Banks ,
JOBS Act ,
Large Corporate Filers ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Mutual Funds ,
Nasdaq ,
New Guidance ,
Offerors ,
PCAOB ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Short Sales ,
SIFMA ,
Small Business ,
Technology Sector ,
Tick Size ,
WKSIs ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
The U.S. federal government shutdown that began Saturday has the potential to affect capital markets and public companies in far-reaching ways. While the Securities and Exchange Commission currently plans to operate fully...more