On May 21, 2024, the director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, Erik Gerding, issued a statement regarding the new requirement to disclose material cybersecurity incidents on Form 8-K. The SEC’s latest...more
On May 3, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to increase disclosures for issuer repurchases of shares or other equity securities that are registered under Section 12 of the Securities...more
5/12/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 10-Q ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stock Repurchases
On March 9, software company Blackbaud agreed to pay $3 million to the SEC as a result of alleged misleading disclosures arising out of a 2020 data breach that involved customer bank account information and Social Security...more
Since Kramer Levin issued its Corporate Governance: 2022 Midyear Review, a wave of enforcement actions by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has underscored the continued importance...more
Whether in response to stakeholders, market pressures or legal requirements, many companies are choosing to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their company missions, policies, and governance...more
Efforts to increase diversity at the top of public companies remain at the forefront of corporate consciousness and governance. As we have previously reported , stakeholder interest in diversified leadership has led to a...more
Environment, social and governance (ESG) or “sustainability” factors are criteria that are used to measure a company in a way that is not typically included in the company’s financial statements. For example, ESG can include...more
On May 13, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, issued a verdict following a bench trial that effectively struck down SB 826, a California statute requiring the boards of public corporations based in the...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 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 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
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
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)
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
In a recent speech at the Practising Law Institute’s annual SEC Speaks conference, Gurbir Grewal, the new director of the Division of Enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission), signaled...more
Despite SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s recent statement that formal rules related to Environmental Social Governance (ESG) may slip to next year, the SEC recently began sending out letters prompting public companies to review and...more
As we have discussed in prior alerts, expanding boardroom diversity has been a recent focus for many regulators, issuers, shareholders and other stakeholders. To this end, in December 2020, Nasdaq Inc. proposed new rules that...more
On June 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a $490,000 settlement with the real estate services provider First American Financial Corporation (First American) for violations of disclosure controls and...more
On Friday, June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed its Agency Rule List for Spring 2021 with the Office of Management and Budget. The Agency Rule List gives clarity to when companies can expect to see...more
6/16/2021
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
As we noted in a previous client alert, the Biden administration has taken significant steps to strengthen enforcement and oversight relating to ESG issues early on in its tenure. In January, the president issued an executive...more
6/2/2021
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
Most of the recent shareholder litigation that has followed the current wave of Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) offerings and associated business combinations has been based on federal securities law claims. ...more
In a prior alert, we noted that a number of shareholder lawsuits were brought during 2020 in which large corporations and their directors were accused of fiduciary breaches and securities law violations tied to the alleged...more
3/26/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivative Complaint ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Facebook ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pleading Standards ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholders
On March 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had charged AT&T and three of its midlevel investor relations executives with violating Regulation FD, a rule that bars issuers from selectively...more
On March 4, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the creation of a Climate and ESG Task Force in the Division of Enforcement. Climate risks and sustainability have been of increasingly critical interest...more
3/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment Management ,
Joint Task Force ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
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
12/23/2020
/ Bylaws ,
Certificates of Incorporation ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
D&O Insurance ,
Forum Selection ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations