#WorkforceWednesday: SEC Cracks Down on Private Companies for Violating Whistleblower Protections - Employment Law This Week®
Episode 24: Corporate Oppression Doctrine Meets Sex Discrimination: A Conversation with Professor Meredith Miller
Selling Privately Held Businesses – Interview with Stephen Gulotta, Managing Member, Mintz Levin's New York Office
Entrepreneurs - small startup companies. Avoid costly mistakes and focus on growing a successful business. Theodore B. Howell
As discussed in our December 15, 2023 client alert, the SEC has waged an aggressive effort to enforce alleged violations of the whistleblower protection rule. On September 9, 2024, the SEC announced settled charges resulting...more
This article is the third in our series on equity-based compensation intended to assist employers with answering a common question: What type of equity compensation award is best for our company and our employees?...more
Share on Twitter Print Share by Email Share Back to top Public investors have become more discerning about Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Instead of chasing speculative high-growth stories, they are leaning towards...more
This article is the second in our series on equity-based compensation intended to assist employers with answering a common question: What type of equity compensation award is best for our company and our employees?...more
*This piece appears in PitchBook’s 2023 Annual US VC Valuations Report. We believe this is the wrong question—we view a reverse merger as "going public" during your cross-over round, rather than as an alternative to an IPO...more
We recently co-hosted an NACD “Private Company Compliance” webinar on the issues that directors of private companies should care about. In this episode, we focused on the increasing importance of supervising the...more
This week, we’re focusing on three recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges against employers for violating whistleblower protection laws and how all employers should take extra steps to ensure compliance in...more
For years, regulators have emphasized that the starting point for maintaining an effective compliance program is understanding the particular risks the company faces. According to Munter, this same concept applies to...more
Executives at public and private companies will soon run the risk of having their compensation subject to forfeiture for financial misstatements and corporate criminal misconduct under their watch thanks to new “clawback”...more
On March 29, 2023, a new exemption from SEC registration for brokers providing services in mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) transactions officially went into effect. The exemption, outlined in Section 501 of the Consolidated...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates publicly-traded and privately-held companies for a broad range of statutory and regulatory violations. SEC investigations can target issues ranging from...more
Signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022, new provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 2617) (Exemption) exempt certain “M&A brokers” from having to register as broker-dealers with the U.S...more
The second installment in a multi-part series looking at the new Corporate Transparency Act discusses what is likely to be the first question that many companies have whenever a new law is passed – are we exempt? ...more
Given recent market trends, many private companies have seen valuations decline significantly, resulting in an increasing number of service providers holding “underwater” or “out of the money” stock options. As a...more
According to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, cybersecurity is the process whereby information and communications systems, and the information contained in those systems, are protected from and/or defended...more
With more than 600 special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) currently looking for merger partners, private companies are likely being courted by a number of SPAC suitors....more
Stock option grant practices have been the subject of recent guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and continue to be scrutinized by various parties for compliance with the tax requirements of the...more
In various public statements of late, representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission have noted concern regarding the growth of the private markets. The statements have pointed to the fact that fundraising in the...more
Some interesting links we found across the web this week: Should Your Company Implement a Vaccination Mandate? As the Biden administration announced the new federal vaccine requirements on Thursday, an increasing...more
In the spring of 2021, one of the hottest markets—the market for special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs—has “screeched to a halt,” according to CNN. As the SPAC market grew red hot in the past six months, it seemed...more
The same comparison might be made of large, publicly-traded corporations and their small, privately-held business counterparts. Although the former may generate more news reports and generate more revenue and government...more
John Coates, Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), issued a public statement providing insight into the SEC’s views on the application of federal...more
On March 31, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance published a staff statement which outlines accounting, financial reporting, and governance issues that private companies should consider...more
Acting Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance, John Coates, provided additional comments on SPACs on April 8, 2021. Acting Director Coates noted the “unprecedented surge” in SPAC...more
John Coates, Acting Director, Division of Corporation Finance, issued a statement questioning the application of the safe harbor for forward looking information in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) to a...more