In case it escaped your notice a few months back—as it did mine—Bloomberg is now reporting that the SEC has “quietly disbanded” its Enforcement Division’s Climate and ESG Task Force. You remember the task force? Back in...more
The 2012 JOBS Act permitted Emerging Growth Companies to initiate the IPO process by submitting their IPO registration statements confidentially to the SEC for nonpublic review by the SEC staff. The confidential process was...more
The SEC has announced settled charges against Zymergen, which, prior to its recent bankruptcy and ultimate liquidation, was a biotech “focused on the manufacture of novel materials, including optical films used in electronic...more
According to a 2023 survey discussed in Global Executives Say Greenwashing Remains Rife in the WSJ, executives think greenwashing is widespread: almost “three-quarters of executives said most organizations in their industry...more
Shall we catch up on some of the recent developments regarding the SEC’s proxy advisor rules? First, let’s take a look at what’s happening with the appeal of the opinion of the D.C. Federal District Court in ISS v. SEC,...more
On Monday, the SEC announced an Enforcement sweep involving settled charges against seven companies for violation of the whistleblower statute and rule. The charges stemmed from provisions that the SEC claimed impeded...more
Yesterday, the SEC approved, by a vote of three to two, a new PCAOB quality control standard, QC 1000, A Firm’s System of Quality Control, and related amendments to its standards, rules and forms. According to the press...more
In 2023, when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills related to climate disclosure—Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, and SB 261, Greenhouse gases: climate-related financial...more
In this 2023 article in Fortune, a survey of 2,800 managers and executives conducted by management consulting firm Aon showed that business leaders “weren’t very concerned about AI….Not only is AI not the top risk that they...more
You all remember the reams of anti-ESG bills that poured out of some of the states, not to mention the U.S. House? According to Reuters, some “states have unleashed a policy push to punish Wall Street for taking stances on...more
This article from Morningstar published on the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance examines three major trends of the 2024 proxy season regarding environmental, social and governance shareholder proposals. The...more
In May, Nasdaq proposed to revise some of its corporate governance rules—specifically Rules 5605, 5615 and 5810—to modify the phase-in schedules for the independent director and committee requirements in connection with a...more
As you know, in 2022, the SEC adopted a new clawback rule, Exchange Act Rule 10D-1, which directed the national securities exchanges to establish listing standards requiring listed issuers to adopt and comply with a clawback...more
This new report, Corporate Underwriters: Where the Rubber Hits the Road, from the nonpartisan Center for Political Accountability, examines “the scope of corporate political spending and its impact on state and national...more
Yesterday, the SEC announced a fee increase for issuers registering their securities. In fiscal 2025, the fee rates for registration of securities and certain other transactions will be $153.10 per million dollars, up 3.7%...more
Yesterday, the SEC held an open meeting to consider a number of PCAOB proposals addressing the “general responsibilities of an auditor conducting an audit as well as technology-assisted analysis and contributory liability...more
Here’s a reminder for all of us about the need to disclose securities pledged as collateral for margin loans—a reminder that comes at the expense of Carl Icahn and his affiliated master limited partnership, Icahn Enterprises...more
As discussed in this press release, the SEC has announced Orders settling charges against Ideanomics, Inc., its current CEO and former CFO, as well as its former Chair and CEO, for alleged misleading statements about the...more
As soon as the SEC adopted final rules “to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings” in March, there was a deluge of litigation—even though, in the final rules, the SEC...more
In July, Virtu Financial, a financial services company and market maker, filed a rulemaking petition with the SEC, asking the SEC to adopt rules that “would prohibit National Securities Exchanges from listing high risk ‘penny...more
In this recent case, Kellner v. AIM ImmunoTech, the Delaware Supreme Court articulated a two-part framework for judicial consideration of advance notice bylaws in the event of a challenge to their adoption, amendment or...more
In 2022, after seven years of marinating on the SEC’s long-term agenda, the SEC adopted rules to implement Section 954 of Dodd-Frank, the clawback provision. The rules directed the national securities exchanges to establish...more
In Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which overturned the 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference (see this PubCo post), SCOTUS highlighted the continued relevance of the doctrine articulated in Skidmore v. Swift & Co., often...more
Nasdaq is proposing to codify the standards of review that govern appeals and reviews before the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council, referred to as the Listing Council. When a listed company receives a Staff Delisting...more
Senator Elizabeth Warren and several other Democrats have just introduced a bill, the Stop Corporate Capture Act, designed to checkmate SCOTUS’s recent decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo (see this PubCo post), which...more