(Updated)
On November 21, 2023, the staff (“Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance released eight new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DIs”) and revised two...more
On September 7, 2023, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a sample comment letter (“Letter”), containing sample comments that the...more
Background and Summary -
Table On July 26, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued a release (the “Adopting Release”), adopting final rules (the “Final Rules”) aimed at standardizing and...more
At an open meeting this morning, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted (with dissenters—see, for example, Commissioner Peirce’s statements) to adopt amendments aimed at enhancing and standardizing disclosures related...more
On July 17, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) released another Sample Letter (“Letter”) that outlines the disclosures that the Staff is focused on in relation to...more
There has been a shift away from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) traditional approach of encouraging foreign issuers to access the U.S. capital markets by making available certain disclosure, reporting and...more
On 11 July 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a public statement on sustainability disclosure in prospectuses, available here: ESMA32-1399193447-441 Statement on sustainability disclosure in...more
The risk of an accusation of “greenwashing” is now an important concern for many companies. Greenwashing is an ill-defined concept but, nevertheless, is increasingly a source of litigation and regulatory scrutiny – with more...more
7/7/2023
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
Offsets ,
Reputation Management ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
UK
Executive Summary -
On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted, by a 3-to-2 vote, amendments (the “Amendments”)1 to its existing rules (the “Existing Rules”) regarding disclosures...more
On March 17, 2023, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission provided updated compliance and disclosure interpretations relating to tender offers and exchange offers. The new guidance is reprinted here for ease of...more
On March 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Blackbaud Inc. (“Blackbaud”) agreed to pay $3 million to settle charges for alleged misleading disclosures about its 2020 ransomware attack and...more
Companies will be affected in a variety of ways by the receivership of Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank or any other similarly situated financial institution. Companies may face difficulty accessing bank facilities or the...more
3/14/2023
/ Banks ,
Capital Formation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Insolvency ,
Investment ,
Liquidity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Receivership ,
Silicon Valley
Various members of the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance had indicated in public statements at recent industry conferences that guidance would be forthcoming on aspects of pay...more
In our prior posts, we discussed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s adoption of Rule 10D-1 that directs the securities exchanges to establish listing standards prohibiting the listing of a security of any company that...more
On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) unanimously adopted amendments (the “amendments”) to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and related disclosure...more
On December 7, 2022, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued three Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations that address the universal proxy rules. These are included in the Staff’s Proxy Rules and...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced an open meeting to be held on December 14, 2022 to consider a number of matters, including the final amendments to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act....more
On August 25, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted a “pay versus performance” rule in accordance with a Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (DoddFrank Act) mandate that...more
9/1/2022
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On August 25, 2022, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued three Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs) (see the Proxy Rules and Schedules 14A/14C), 139.01, 139.02 and 139.03. The C&DIs,...more
On August 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a final pay for performance rule. The pay for performance rule implements the Dodd Frank Act rulemaking mandate contained in Section 953(a) of the Act. That...more
This practice note discusses 10 practice points that can help you, as counsel to underwriters or initial purchasers, skillfully navigate the task of reviewing and negotiating comfort letters. A comfort letter is a letter...more
On June 9, 2022, the staff (“Staff”) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) added Question 101.01 to its Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DI”), addressing forward contracts on restricted securities....more
6/22/2022
/ C&DIs ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Forward Contracts ,
New Guidance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Restricted Stocks ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swaps
The Staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance released a sample comment letter that provides guidance regarding the types of disclosures that reporting companies should consider in...more
Background -
On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3:1, with only Commissioner Hester Peirce dissenting, to propose long-awaited rules that, if adopted, would require extensive reporting...more
3/23/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Background -
On March 9, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) released proposed amendments (the “Proposed Amendments”) aimed at enhancing and standardizing disclosure relating to cybersecurity...more
3/15/2022
/ Business Development Companies ,
Comment Period ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 8-K ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation