As previously discussed in our Sept. 10, 2020, client alert, in Wong v. Restoration Robotics, Inc., Case No. 18-CIV-02609 (Cal. Super. Ct. Sept. 1, 2020), the Superior Court of California for the County of San Mateo dismissed...more
On March 30, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a proposal for new rules and amendments under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 governing initial public offerings...more
On April 1, 2022, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, granted a summary judgment motion that effectively struck down AB 979, a California statute requiring the boards of public corporations based in the...more
On Feb. 25, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in United States v. Afriyie that restitution orders under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA) do not allow victims to recover attorneys’ fees...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued for comment proposed rules requiring companies to include climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports filed under...more
On Feb. 23, 2022, the European Commission (Commission) announced a proposed Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, which would establish uniform EU-wide requirements to foster compliance with certain...more
On March 9, the SEC, by a 3-1 vote, proposed new rules in its most far-reaching effort to enhance and standardize disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance and incident reporting by public...more
On March 15, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (the Act) into law as part of the $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 omnibus spending package. The Act will create a mandatory...more
On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, President Biden issued a long-awaited Executive Order, Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, that outlined a whole-of-government approach to regulating digital assets...more
On March 7, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Treasury Department published guidance on increased vigilance for potential Russian sanctions evasion attempts. The FinCEN Alert follows the...more
In their March 3, 2022, speeches to the 37th American Bar Association (ABA) National Institute on White Collar Crime, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. both emphasized the...more
As noted in previous client alerts (including here), boardroom diversity continues to be an increasing focus of stakeholders ranging from legislators to institutional investors to retail stockholders. In recent years, their...more
On Feb. 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed several new rules with the goal of increasing transparency around short selling. Rule 13f-2 would require institutional investment managers (Managers)...more
On Feb. 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) proposed a suite of new rules and amendments concerning cybersecurity risk management for registered investment advisers (advisers) and registered...more
2/14/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Comment Period ,
Cybersecurity ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Rules ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In January, the New York State Assembly and Senate introduced identical bills seeking to impose broad environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates on the global fashion industry. If passed, the Fashion Sustainability...more
This client alert provides an overview of recent key updates on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters from the leading proxy advisory firms and major institutional investors. We also address updated guidance by...more
1/28/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Judge William H. Orrick of the Northern District of California recently denied a motion to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) first insider trading case charging a defendant with “shadow trading.” The...more
As discussed in a previous client alert, The Boeing Company (Boeing) has faced shareholder litigation arising from the fatal crashes of two 737 MAX airplanes. In one such derivative suit filed under Section 14(a) of the...more
2021 was a busy year for corporate governance matters, with new legislation passed early in the year and new enforcement priorities emerging under the Biden administration. Kramer Levin lawyers published numerous articles...more
1/6/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Caremark claim ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued for comment two separate but related proposed rule amendments regarding share repurchases and 10b5-1 Plans. The comment period will remain open for 45 days after...more
Over the course of the year — and even dating back to his time on the campaign trail — President Biden and senior officials in his administration, including Department of Justice (DOJ) and Security and Exchange Commission...more
12/21/2021
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Biden Administration ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
On Dec. 13, 2021, an en banc panel of the Fifth Circuit held that the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) does not preclude federal district courts from exercising subject matter jurisdiction over constitutional...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Treasury Department announced last week an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on a proposed rule that would address the...more
12/15/2021
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Treasury Department announced last week a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the beneficial ownership reporting requirements set forth in the Corporate...more
On Nov. 23, the New York Court of Appeals held in a 6-1 ruling that an investment firm’s $140 million disgorgement payment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was not a “penalt[y] imposed by law” under the firm’s...more