In a recent enforcement action, the SEC concluded that the relationship between James Craigie and an officer of Church & Dwight Co. fatally undermined Craigie’s status as an “independent director” of the company under New...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update....more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains updates and important reminders on...more
Directors must cope with constantly shifting challenges. To help boards navigate these, Skadden launched The Informed Board, a periodic collection of concise articles that provide broad insights about key issues directors...more
Takeaways - Independence is neither a fixed condition nor a universal status for all purposes. Events and relationships can disqualify an otherwise independent director from participating in decisions.. No matter how pure a...more
In our November 2, 2021 blog post, we highlighted a number of considerations for the 2022 proxy season. Based on recent developments, the following are some additional items...more
As we head into a new proxy season, this SEC order involving settled charges against Leaf Group Ltd. might be a good case to keep in mind. In this case, the SEC charged that Leaf did not adequately identify and analyze—and...more
On November 7, 2019, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published a Risk Alert highlighting the most often cited deficiencies and weaknesses observed in recent examinations of registered...more
The SEC’s settlement with Tesla and Elon Musk teaches us some important corporate governance lessons on monitoring and vetting executive use of social media. As background, on August 7, 2018, the markets were surprised by...more
On September 27, 2018, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Elon Musk, the Chairman and CEO of Tesla, Inc., a publically-traded California-based technology company that specializes in electric...more
Proskauer’s Global Capital Markets Group has released its fourth annual IPO Study, a comprehensive analysis of U.S.-listed initial public offerings that priced in 2016, including an identification of IPO trends over a...more
Regulatory Developments - DOL Issues Final Fiduciary Rule - On April 6, the Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled its pre-publication final version of the long-awaited fiduciary rule (the Final Rule). Some of the more...more
In a recent speech, SEC Chair Mary Jo White discussed the current role of mutual fund directors and what the SEC expects of them going forward. The Role of Independent Directors in Assessing Risk - In remarks at the...more
In derivative suits, cases are essentially lost and won at the motion to dismiss stage. Unless the defendants succeed in winning dismissal, they must confront an unhappy choice between continued litigation with all of its...more