Companies doing business in Texas and California should be aware of the following state law developments, which could affect them....more
7/21/2025
/ CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders
The SEC is reportedly in discussions with Nasdaq and NYSE about ways to ease the burden of becoming—and remaining—a public company....more
On July 11, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance amended 18 Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations relating to Regulation 13D-G, which pertains to beneficial ownership reporting rules.
These amendments bring the...more
Keep in mind the following risk factor and MD&A considerations for upcoming Form 10-Q filings...more
7/15/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Foreign Currency ,
Form 10-Q ,
International Trade ,
MD&A Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Management ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Policy ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies
Petition for Rulemaking with Respect to Cybersecurity Incident Disclosure -
A group of financial services industry trade associations submitted a joint petition for rulemaking requesting that the SEC amend the...more
6/20/2025
/ Bitcoin ,
Crowdfunding ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Nasdaq ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trade Associations
The New York Stock Exchange (Exchange) has recently adopted two rule changes, one to reduce fees for the initial period of a company’s listing on the Exchange and another to formally expand the universe of holders that will...more
The SEC recently approved Nasdaq’s proposed changes to the initial listing requirements related to liquidity. Nasdaq proposed to change Listing Rules 5405 and 5505 to...more
Acting SEC Chair Mark T. Uyeda outlined potential regulatory changes to make IPOs more attractive and to scale public company disclosures at the Florida Bar’s 41st Annual Federal Securities Institute and M&A Conference. ...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains updates and important reminders on...more
2/10/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Nasdaq ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Activism
Corporate governance practices vary significantly among public companies. This reflects many factors, including:
..Differences in their stage of development, including the relative importance placed on various business...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains updates and important reminders on...more
1/2/2025
/ Benchmarks ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Transparency ,
Voting Shares
Institutional Shareholder Services updated its Benchmark proxy voting policies on December 17—with updated policies generally applying to shareholder meetings taking place on or after February 1.
The updates for U.S....more
In August 2021, the SEC approved new board diversity rules requiring Nasdaq-listed companies (i) to include a board diversity matrix in their proxy statement or on their website and (ii) to disclose whether they have one...more
12/16/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
LGBTQ ,
Minorities ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Statutory Authority ,
Woman Board Members
As both public and private companies “doing business” in California with annual revenues above $1 billion prepare to comply with SB 253, CARB last week issued an important enforcement notice stating that it has elected to...more
Over the last five years, stockholder activism has undergone significant transformation, shaped by changing market conditions, regulatory developments, and evolving societal expectations. Activism has continued to spread...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update....more
11/26/2024
/ Audit Committee ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Form 10-K ,
Glass Lewis ,
Independent Directors ,
PCAOB ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On October 22, 2024, the SEC charged two current reporting companies, Unisys Corp. and Check Point Software Technologies, and two former public companies, Mimecast Limited and Avaya Holdings Corp., with making materially...more
10/31/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form 8-K ,
Internal Controls ,
Misleading Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security and Privacy Controls
On September 25, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had charged 23 entities and individuals for failure to timely file Schedules 13D and 13G reports and Forms 3, 4, and 5. The SEC also charged two...more
On August 6, the SEC filed its much-anticipated legal brief in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals supporting its controversial Climate Rules and responding to the arguments laid out in petitioners’ consolidated petitions for...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
First Amendment ,
Pending Litigation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Authority
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains news on...more
8/14/2024
/ Amended Regulation ,
Board of Directors ,
Chevron Deference ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Google ,
Governor Newsom ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Life Sciences ,
Listing Rules ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Time Extensions ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
Amidst challenges and conflicting demands from a variety of stakeholders, technology and life sciences companies have increased their voluntary disclosure regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns. Despite...more
4/12/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investors ,
Life Sciences ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Silicon Valley ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Technology
On March 6, 2024, the SEC adopted final rules (Final Rules) requiring extensive climate-related disclosures in companies’ annual reports and registration statements. The new rules are set forth in Release No. 33-11275. The...more
3/19/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Background on Moonshot Award Practices -
In the years leading up to the slowdown in the IPO markets in late 2021, it had become increasingly common for high-growth technology companies to grant large equity incentive...more
For two decades, Fenwick has reported on corporate governance statistics and trends among the S&P 100 and Silicon Valley’s top public companies (Fenwick – Bloomberg Law Silicon Valley 150 List), with the goal of educating...more
1/10/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Dual Class Share Structures ,
Gender Equity ,
Life Sciences ,
Majority Voting Policies ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
S&P ,
Shareholders ,
Silicon Valley ,
Technology ,
Woman Board Members
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy voting advisory firms in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the U.S. market for the 2024...more
1/4/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholders