The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced parallel actions against an activist short seller and his firm, charging them with multiple counts of securities fraud....more
On July 18, 2024, a New York federal judge dismissed most of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s ("SEC") claims against SolarWinds Corp. ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") and its Chief Information Security Officer...more
As we enter the second half of the year, it is once again time for many foreign private issuers (“FPIs”) to complete their annual assessment of FPI status. The determination of whether an issuer is an FPI must be made as of...more
In April, we issued an alert discussing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Department of Justice’s ("DOJ") expansion of insider trading to 10b5-1 plans. On June 21, 2024, a federal jury in California...more
7/3/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Corporate Executives ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Information ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
On April 5, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") won a jury verdict in its first "shadow trading" insider trading action. Only a few weeks before this verdict, a court denied a motion to dismiss a...more
4/16/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Affirmative Defenses ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Good Faith ,
Healthcare ,
Insider Trading ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Mergers ,
Non-Public Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party
On April 4, 2024, less than one month after their adoption, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has chosen to stay its newly adopted climate disclosure rules, pending judicial review (the "Final Rules"). The...more
On March 6, 2024, in a 3 to 2 vote of the Commissioners, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopted rules that will require public companies to disclose extensive climate change-related information in their...more
Each year in our Annual Memo series, White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group provides practical insights on preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-Ks, Annual Meeting Proxy Statements and, for FPIs, the Annual Report on Form...more
3/18/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 10-K ,
New Rules ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
With the 2023 annual report season upon us, it is time for companies to take stock of risk factors for 10-Ks and 20-Fs, and consider whether recent economic, political, technological, and regulatory developments have had (or...more
12/22/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Geopolitical Risks ,
Internal Controls ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Factors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On October 30, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that it filed charges against SolarWinds Corp. ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") and its Chief Information Security Officer ("CISO") in connection...more
11/15/2023
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Fraud ,
Information Technology ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
Investors ,
Material Misstatements ,
Misleading Statements ,
NIST ,
Omissions ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Software ,
Vulnerability Assessments
On October 10, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted amendments to modernize the rules governing beneficial ownership reporting under Sections 13(d) and 13(g)1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...more
As the 2023 proxy season winds down for calendar year companies, it is a good time to consider possible bylaw and charter amendments to address recent developments with respect to universal proxy, shareholder activism and...more
On May 3, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopted rule amendments to expand the disclosure requirements for issuer stock repurchases.
These amendments:
- Tabular Disclosure: Create a new...more
New Checkbox for Forms 4 and 5 Reporting – Effective April 3, 2023 -
Starting April 3, 2023, all Forms 4 or 5 filed by insiders of domestic issuers must include a new checkbox to identify any transactions made pursuant to...more
The Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice ("DOJ") continues to aggressively pursue alleged illegal interlocking directorates that violate Section 8 of the Clayton Act, and in particular, interlocks involving...more
Part I of our two-part Annual Memo series identified important considerations when preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-K in 2023. Part II of this memo below, describes our key considerations for 2023 Annual Meeting Proxy...more
Part I of our two-part series identifies our Public Company Advisory Group's 10 important considerations when preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-K in 2023, organized in two categories:
1. Six Housekeeping Considerations:...more
1/6/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
Form 10-K ,
GAAP ,
MD&A Statements ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Popular ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders
On December 14, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted amendments to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Plans adopted pursuant to Rule 10b5-1...more
12/23/2022
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Amended Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Disclosure ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Insider Trading ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC ("Glass Lewis"), the two major proxy advisory firms, recently issued their updated proxy voting guidelines for the 2023 proxy season. These policy updates...more
12/22/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Overboarding ,
Popular ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
In light of the dislocation experienced by the crypto industry in recent months, as demonstrated through a number of highly publicized bankruptcies causing "widespread disruption" in the space, on December 8, 2022, the...more
On December 6, 2022, the Division of Corporation Finance ("Corp Fin") of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued three new compliance and disclosure interpretations ("C&DIs") related to new Rule 14a-19, the...more
On October 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted its long-awaited final rules on clawbacks. Under these rules, companies listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq will be required to adopt "clawback" policies –...more
The Annual Report season will soon be upon us, and it is important to assess a company's risk factors at the outset and whether recent developments, including those relating to macroeconomic, geopolitical, and public health...more
11/1/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Global Economy ,
Human Capital ,
Interest Rates ,
Investors ,
Market Conditions ,
Military Conflict ,
Price Inflation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Factors ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
On October 19, 2022, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice announced that seven directors resigned from five different US public company boards of directors following DOJ concerns that their roles violated...more
10/21/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Entities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Section 8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
The Clayton Act
On September 23, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") released the electronic version of Form 144. This follows the SEC's adoption on June 2, 2022 of rule amendments that require all Forms 144 to be filed...more