Preparations are key to a successful proxy and annual report season, and autumn is not too early to begin. While work on proxy statements, annual reports and annual meetings typically kicks into high gear in the winter,...more
10/1/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On September 23, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Rule 14a-8 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Rule 14a-8). The SEC initially proposed amendments to Rule 14a-8...more
On September 23, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to Exchange Act Rule 14a-8, the shareholder-proposal rule...more
On August 26, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize business, legal proceedings and risk factor disclosures. According to the SEC, the...more
Introduction -
This First Analysis article discusses the amendments (Amended Rules) adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 21, 2020 in connection with financial statement disclosures on...more
On June 23, 2020, the Division of Corporation Finance (Division) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 9A (CF 9A), providing guidance on operations, liquidity, and capital...more
On June 23, 2020, Jay Clayton, Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) discussed his perspectives on long-term investing, sustainability and the role of disclosures during a webinar hosted by FCLTGlobal, a...more
On May 21, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments (Amended Rules)1 to financial statement disclosures with respect to business acquisitions and dispositions required by Regulation S-X’s Rule...more
On April 8, 2020, the Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) – Jay Clayton – and the Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance – William Hinman – issued a joint statement titled The...more
On March 25, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) extended the filing periods covered by its previous conditional reporting relief order for certain public company filing obligations impacted by COVID-19. At...more
3/30/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Forms ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On March 12, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to the accelerated filer and large accelerated filer definitions in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Rule 12b-2). The...more
On January 30, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided guidance (MD&A Guidance) regarding the disclosure of key performance indicators and metrics used in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of...more
2/5/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Statements ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
MD&A Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Omissions ,
Performance Standards ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On December 18, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules for the reporting of certain payments by resource extraction issuers (the “proposed rules”). The proposed rules represent the third attempt...more
1/30/2020
/ Compliance Dates ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Foreign Governments ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Resource Extraction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Source of Payments
With the 2020 proxy and annual reporting season upon us, this Legal Update provides 10 tips for companies to consider when drafting annual reports on Form 10-K and proxy statements for filing with the US Securities and...more
1/21/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EDGAR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 10-K ,
Hedging ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Libor ,
MD&A Statements ,
Median Employee ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Technology ,
UK Brexit
During the last two weeks of 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission offered guidance and reminders relating to the role of audit committees, international intellectual property and technology risks, and confidential...more
1/8/2020
/ Audit Committee ,
Auditor Independence ,
Audits ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Corporate Governance ,
Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
ICFR ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Libor ,
New Guidance ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tone At The Top
On November 5, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed several amendments to Rule 14a-8 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The proposed amendments are intended to “recognize the...more
11/13/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Stock Ownership
On October 16, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K to provide additional guidance on shareholder proposals submitted pursuant to Rule...more
On September 26, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission extended the ability to test the waters to all issuers by adopting the highly anticipated new Rule 163B under the Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act)....more
9/30/2019
/ Accredited Investors ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Internal Communications ,
Investors ,
JOBS Act ,
New Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualified Institutional Buyers ,
Rule 163B ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced an increase in the filing fees to be paid by public companies and other issuers during the SEC’s 2020 fiscal year. ...more
8/29/2019
/ Corporate Issuers ,
Filing Fees ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Stock Repurchases
With the increased concentration of share ownership by institutional investors over the past several decades, the influence of proxy advisory firms on shareholder votes has grown dramatically, all while the proxy regulatory...more
On August 8, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize business, legal proceedings and risk factor disclosures. According to the SEC, the...more
On May 9, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed revisions to the accelerated filer and large accelerated filer definitions in 17 CFR 12b-2 (Rule 12b-2). These proposed changes would reduce the number...more
On May 3, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed revisions to financial statement disclosures with respect to business acquisitions and dispositions required by Regulation S-X’s Rule 3-05 (Financial...more
As described in our Legal Update “SEC Adopts Rules to Modernize and Simplify Disclosure,” datedMarch 27, 2019,1 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments intended to modernize and simplify certain...more
On March 20, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments intended to modernize and simplify certain disclosure requirements of Regulation S-K and related rules and forms. The amendments represent...more