What Does The SEC Approved NASDAQ Diversity Proposal Mean For Boards?
Financing Challenges for Small Cap Companies
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains news on...more
On July 25, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that at least part of the basis for the currently pending legal attack on the Nasdaq’s proposed...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will likely weigh in soon on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of Nasdaq’s board diversity rule that will require listed companies to disclose...more
As you know, the Nasdaq board diversity disclosure requirements might be in jeopardy at the moment, as we await the decision of the en banc Fifth Circuit following oral argument in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment and...more
In August 2021, the SEC approved a Nasdaq proposal for new listing rules regarding board diversity and disclosure, accompanied by a proposal to provide free access to a board recruiting service. The new listing rules adopted...more
Meredith Ervine recently wrote about reverse stock splits and Nasdaq listed issuers. A reverse stock split is the "go to" solution for many listed issuers whose share prices fall below the minimum continued stock exchange...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed recently to revisit a challenge to Nasdaq's board diversity rule. As we previously reported, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit upheld the rule in October 2023....more
The Fifth Circuit has vacated the opinion we discussed in our Oct. 30, 2023, client alert Diversity in the Boardroom: Fifth Circuit Rejects Challenge to the SEC Nasdaq Board Diversity Rules; En Banc Petition Quickly Filed and...more
Well – this took four months. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered en banc rehearing of an unsuccessful challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the Nasdaq Stock Market’s rules...more
In this Client Alert, we highlight key considerations public companies should keep in mind when preparing their upcoming annual reports on Form 10-K and proxy statements, including rule changes, recent guidance and reporting...more
On October 18, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, 5th Cir., No. 21-60626 upheld Nasdaq’s board diversity rule, which encourages greater board...more
A Fifth Circuit panel recently upheld Nasdaq’s diversity disclosure rules after petitioners challenged them under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Alliance For Fair Board...more
On October 25, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Fifth Circuit”) upheld the Nasdaq board diversity rule in the face of challenges that (among other things) the rule attempted to improperly and...more
In Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, a panel of three 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges upheld Nasdaq’s rules on board diversity. The rules require each Nasdaq-listed company to disclose information on the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Court) recently rejected challenges to Nasdaq’s “Board Diversity” framework. Those rules require Nasdaq-listed companies to report that they have, or explain why they do not...more
As discussed in this PubCo post, on October 18, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit denied the petitions filed by the Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment and the National Center for Public Policy Research challenging the...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Nasdaq's board diversity rule, which the SEC first approved in August 2021 and was then challenged as unconstitutionally discriminatory and an improper...more
The Fifth Circuit has rejected the challenge to Nasdaq’s “show and tell” diversity rule that requires Nasdaq companies to publicly disclose the makeup of their boards. In Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment, National Center...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied review of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of proposed rules promulgated by the Nasdaq Stock Market concerning the diversity of directors on...more
On Friday, August 6, 2021, the SEC approved a Nasdaq proposal for new listing rules regarding board diversity and disclosure, accompanied by a proposal to provide free access to a board recruiting service. The new listing...more
On September 5, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) posted and declared effective a Nasdaq rule proposal modifying requirements related to a waiver of the code of conduct in Listing Rules 5610 and...more
Last year, Superior Courts in Los Angeles County invalidated two California statutes requiring specific diversity mandates for California public company boards (Senate Bill 826 “SB 826” and Assembly Bill 979 “AB 979”). The...more
On May 15, 2023, the Eastern District of California ruled that California Assembly Bill No. 979 (“AB 979”) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. As enacted,...more
On May 15, 2023, a district court judge sitting in the Eastern District of California ruled that California Assembly Bill No. 979 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and 42...more