On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1) adopted amendments (the “Amendments”) to the proxy rules related to proxy advisory firms and (2) released proposed rules (“Proposed Rules”) regarding the...more
On June 2, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rule and form amendments (the “Amendments”) that mandate the electronic filing or submissions of certain documents on its Electronic Data Gathering,...more
Corporate boardroom diversity has increased significantly over the last few years, and the interest in and demand for gender and racial/ethnic diversity on boards of directors remain high. Lack of corporate board diversity...more
6/3/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Gender Equity ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Nasdaq ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On May 13, 2022, the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County held that SB 826, the law requiring companies with headquarters in California to have a prescribed number of women on their boards of directors, is...more
On April 1, 2022, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment in a case challenging the legality of AB 979 under the California Constitution...more
4/5/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Business Litigation ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Governor Newsom ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
LGBTQ ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Municipalities ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
State Constitutions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rules and amendments that would require SEC reporting companies and companies filing registration statements to provide certain climate-related information in their...more
3/28/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rules and amendments to enhance and standardize the reporting on cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance and incidents disclosed by public companies....more
3/11/2022
/ Capital Markets ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Throughout the last few years, investors, proxy advisors, governance professionals and a number of stakeholders have expressed a keen interest in how companies are managing their environmental, social and governance (ESG)...more
3/7/2022
/ Capital Markets ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investors ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Public Disclosure ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Silicon Valley ,
Technology Sector
On February 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal—Short Position and Short Activity Reporting by Institutional Investment Managers (the Proposal)—that would require certain institutional...more
3/4/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Consolidated Audit Trail ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation SHO ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Stocks
Corporate social responsibility is not a new concept, but in recent years there has been an increased focus by investors and other stakeholders regarding how companies are addressing their environmental, social and governance...more
On February 10, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal (Proposed rules: Modernization of Beneficial Ownership Reporting) that would amend Regulation 13D-G under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...more
2/17/2022
/ Amended Regulation ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Markets ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
In the last few years, environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics have become common in boardrooms, as investment funds with an ESG focus have raised billions and ESG’s non-financial metrics are increasingly factored...more
Fenwick has surveyed the corporate governance practices of the companies included in the Standard & Poor’s 100 Index (S&P 100) and the technology and life sciences companies included in the Fenwick – Bloomberg Law Silicon...more
1/13/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Ethnicity ,
Gender Equity ,
Investors ,
LGBTQ ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
S&P ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Woman Board Members
In recent years the demand for information regarding companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities, risks and opportunities has risen sharply. Shareholders and other stakeholders seek ESG information that...more
1/11/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
On December 15, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal (the Rule 10b5-1 proposal) that would amend Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), and require, among other...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy advisors in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. Their voting...more
12/10/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards in contested director elections as discussed in Release No. 34-93596 (the Adopting Release). Universal...more
11/30/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Contested Elections ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
New Rules ,
Nominee Directors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Universal Proxy Cards
Shareholder activism has been a significant phenomenon amongst the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues. As such activism has continued to grow, it...more
11/19/2021
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Life Sciences ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
S&P ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Silicon Valley ,
Stock Ownership ,
Technology Sector
On November 3, 2021, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L (the New SLB), which will make it more difficult for companies to exclude social...more
11/10/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Micromanagement ,
New Guidance ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On October 13, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules that amend several fee-bearing forms, schedules, statements and related rules to modernize filing fee disclosure and payment methods for...more
On August 6, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved new listing rules regarding board diversity and disclosure, described in our prior Client Alert. The new rules will require a Nasdaq-listed company to...more
8/9/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
LGBTQ ,
Minorities ,
Nasdaq ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Woman Board Members
Today, shareholders are increasingly demanding corporate accountability on a variety of issues, ranging from compensation and human capital management to governance and board diversity, among others. As a result, most...more
Fenwick’s gender diversity survey provides unique insight into women’s participation at the most senior levels of technology and life sciences public companies on the Fenwick – Bloomberg Law Silicon Valley 150 List (SV 150)...more
4/1/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
EDGAR ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Principal Executive Officer ,
Proxy Season ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Silicon Valley ,
Surveys ,
Woman Board Members
On November 17, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a release adopting rule amendments to permit the use of electronic signatures in connection with electronic filings on EDGAR that are required to be...more
Glass Lewis announced updates to its United States Proxy Voting Policy Guidelines late November 2020. The 2021 Proxy Voting Policy Guidelines include a variety of changes from the 2020 version, including new provisions...more
12/10/2020
/ Board of Directors ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity ,
Glass Lewis ,
Golden Parachutes ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Investors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
State and Local Government ,
Virtual Meetings