Stock Option Repricing: What Do Tech Companies Need to Know, What Different Forms Do They Take, and How Can Repricing Contribute to a Motivated Workforce?
A federal court in California refused to grant a judgment or a new trial to a defendant who was found to have engaged in insider trading when he purchased securities of one company based on material nonpublic information...more
As we close out this series on the Bre-X mining scandal, the lessons from this notorious case continue to resonate, especially for today’s compliance professionals. The fraud that led to the downfall of Bre-X and the ensuing...more
The Bre-X mining scandal of the 1990s is one of history’s most infamous corporate fraud cases. Bre-X Minerals Ltd., a small Canadian company, falsely reported one of the largest gold deposits ever discovered in Indonesia,...more
In the annals of corporate fraud, few scandals match the magnitude of the Bre-X mining affair. For compliance professionals, the lessons from this incident resonate deeply, not just because of the scale of the deception but...more
Few corporate scandals are still as infamous or devastating as the Bre-X mining scandal. What began as a story of incredible wealth, fueled by the promise of one of the largest gold deposits ever discovered, unraveled into...more
On June 25, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) charged an advanced materials company and its former executive officers with market manipulation, fraud and other securities law violations. The charges...more
Each month, we publish a roundup of the most important SEC enforcement developments for busy in-house lawyers and compliance professionals. This month, we examine: •The permanent suspension of an audit firm and its owner for...more
The electric vehicle company Canoo went public in a de-SPAC transaction in December 2020. After its stock price fell, a stockholder in the SPAC who chose not to redeem his stock sued the SPAC board and its controller for...more
SEC Rule 10b-5(b) makes it unlawful, in connection with the offer and sale of securities, for any person to make any untrue statement of material fact or omit to state a material fact when the omission renders any statements...more
There have been 44 initial public offerings (IPOs) listed on the US stock markets in 2024 thus far, many of which continue to trade at a premium to their initial offering price, demonstrating the strength and buoyancy of...more
The issue in Connelly v. US is whether, for estate tax purposes, the value of a closely-held corporation using corporate-owned life insurance to redeem the shares of a decedent shareholder increases the value of the company...more
In a volatile market, companies may see their stock value drop significantly. This can result in employees and other service providers holding stock options that are “underwater” or “out of the money” – in other words,...more
In a three-ring circus — where the first is the motion to dismiss, the second is class certification, and the third is summary judgment — the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has introduced a new act in the second ring for...more
In a recent decision, the Fourth Circuit considered a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders of a biopharma company, INC Research Holdings, Inc. (now Syneos Health Inc.). The shareholders had voted to approve a merger...more
With just one quarter remaining in 2023, securities and derivative litigation continues to develop with new standards being articulated or clarified, particularly by decisions within the Second Circuit: The Second...more
As discussed in this Cooley Go article on secondary sale transactions of private company stock, a tender offer is one of the ways in which companies can provide liquidity to their stockholders. This article will dive a bit...more
When corporate executives discuss important company news in SEC filings or on stock-analyst conference calls, they know their words will be scrutinized by listeners and the broader market. Misstatements could give rise to...more
In Short - The Situation: The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently decertified a class of stockholders who alleged that Goldman Sachs maintained an inflated share price by making...more
On August 10, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit took an important step in Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. Goldman Sachs Group toward clarifying the circumstances in which federal class action...more
On August 10, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s class certification order in a putative class action asserting claims under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange...more
A potentially overlooked but important issue that public companies should have in mind when granting option or option-like awards is avoiding the unintentional appearance of “spring-loading” and “bullet-dodging,” both of...more
On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court (the Supreme Court) issued a much-anticipated decision in the case captioned Slack Technologies, LLC, fka Slack Technologies, Inc. (Slack), et al. v. Pirani (the Slack Decision), which...more
A unanimous Supreme Court today made it more difficult for shareholders to file suits under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act or the Act). The Court held in Slack Technologies, LLC v. Fiyyaz Pirani...more
On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani vacating a Ninth Circuit decision2 that had extended the scope of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, which provides a...more