On June 26, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) hosted a roundtable on executive compensation disclosure requirements. As noted in prior Insights, the SEC convened the roundtable to evaluate the...more
7/9/2025
/ Board of Directors ,
CEOs ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
On June 20, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2337 (“SB 2337”), a novel regulation that will require significant disclosure obligations for proxy advisors, such as ISS and Glass Lewis, for their voting...more
7/8/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Governor Abbott ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
New Legislation ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Texas
As we previously noted last month, the SEC is hosting a roundtable on the executive compensation disclosure requirements on June 26, 2025. In advance of the roundtable, the SEC has finalized and released a detailed agenda and...more
We have seen, a mere few months into President Trump’s second term, a remarkably transformational set of priorities across the federal government, which have had dramatic impacts on the private sector generally and public...more
6/10/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Greenwashing ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
International Trade ,
Investors ,
Judicial Authority ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tortious Interference ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued a press release announcing that it will host a public roundtable on June 26, 2025, to discuss executive compensation disclosure requirements. The event will...more
On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach” (the “Executive Order”), which directs the United States Attorney General to identify and halt the...more
Delaware amended the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) to create safe harbors for transactions involving directors, officers and controlling stockholders and to limit both the documents subject to and the purposes...more
In a move that perhaps comes as no surprise, on March 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “the Commission”) issued Press Release 2025-58 announcing it had voted to end its defense of its climate-related...more
On February 21, 2025, a federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that partially prevents the Trump administration from enforcing its executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”). At issue were...more
On February 12, 2025, the Division of Corporate Finance (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued new guidance on Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals, which comes one day after the Staff...more
In early March 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) finalized its climate-related disclosures rule (The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors) (the “Final Rule”)....more
On February 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a partial motion to dismiss filed by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), dismissing the claims that SB 253 (the Climate...more
Companies with forthcoming annual report and proxy statement filings should consult with counsel regarding recent regulatory and legal developments related to diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives and the...more
1/31/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Nasdaq ,
Proxy Season ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “Executive Order” which significantly impacts not only requirements...more
On December 16, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) released a notice soliciting comments on a number of specific questions to inform its implementation of the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“CCDAA”...more
On December 11, 2024, in a 9-8 ruling along party lines, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) struck down the Nasdaq board diversity rules issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...more
In an Enforcement Notice released on December 5, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) announced that it will not take enforcement action against companies subject to California’s Climate Corporate Data...more
On November 14, 2024, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the SEC’s ability to intervene in shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Rule 14a-8...more
On November 8, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settled enforcement action (the “SEC Order”) against Invesco Advisers, Inc. (“Invesco”), an investment advisory firm, for making misleading...more
11/14/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
False Statements ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On November 5, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for summary judgment that sought to declare SB 253 and SB 261 (the “California Climate Laws”) invalid on their face under the...more
The first half of 2024 was eventful in the world of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”). Although ESG continued to lose the market tailwinds that have pushed it forward in recent years, regulatory pressures both...more
10/18/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenwashing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability
On September 23, 2024, the State of California filed a new greenwashing salvo against an oil major by filing a plastics-related lawsuit in the San Francisco County Superior Court. The lawsuit accuses the oil major of...more
Over the last few months, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) discretely disbanded the Climate and ESG Taskforce (“ESG Task Force”) of its Division of Enforcement. The move follows a wave of recent pushback...more
In a significant legal maneuver with potentially far-reaching implications, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amended complaint on June 10, 2024, to California’s high-profile lawsuit targeting five of the world’s...more
After much anticipation, on March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—mandating...more
3/29/2024
/ Business Development Companies ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Form S-8 ,
MD&A Statements ,
PSLRA ,
Regulation S-K ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act