As we noted in prior client alerts (available here and here), in 2023 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to its beneficial ownership rules. The amended rules include accelerated filing deadlines...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted to adopt new Rule 13f-2 and related Form SHO requiring certain institutional investment managers (managers) to report short sale-related information to the SEC....more
In light of the recent increased volatility in the global financial markets, a number of companies have raised questions regarding the desirability of repurchasing shares at reduced market prices. This alert addresses...more
3/22/2022
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Board of Directors ,
Confidential Information ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Stock Repurchases
On December 2, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final amendments implementing the disclosure and submission requirements of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act). In addition,...more
On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) Rule 6100 — Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act....more
On August 19, 2021, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed an immediately effective rule change (Rule Proposal) restoring a transaction value and materiality threshold for related party transactions that require independent...more
8/26/2021
/ Audit Committee ,
Board of Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Independent Directors ,
Listed Company Manual ,
Listing Standards ,
NYSE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
When finalizing proxy materials for annual shareholder meetings, companies should consider the following Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and related guidance, as well as stock exchange listing standards and...more
On December 2, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (Act). The Act is identical to the bill the U.S. Senate passed in May 2020. Most significantly, the Act requires...more
12/9/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Audit Reports ,
Audits ,
China ,
Financial Statements ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
Hong Kong ,
PCAOB ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On November 17, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Rule 302(b) of Regulation S-T (Rule 302(b)), which permits registrants and others to use electronic signatures in documents...more
On September 23, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to the procedural requirements and resubmission thresholds relating to shareholder proposals submitted for inclusion in company proxy...more
On July 10, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-1 to approve proposed rules that, among other things, would raise the Form 13F reporting threshold for institutional investment managers (managers) from...more
On March 12, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to the accelerated filer and large accelerated filer definitions under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act to reduce burdens and compliance...more
In December 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued new "CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 7" (Guidance) regarding confidential treatment requests pursuant to...more
1/17/2020
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Finance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Exemptions ,
FOIA ,
New Guidance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rule 24b-2 ,
Rule 406 ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation
On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted in favor of proposing rules to implement the resource extraction issuer disclosure provisions in Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which added...more
12/27/2019
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Exemptions ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 20-F ,
Oil & Gas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Resource Extraction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Smaller Reporting Companies
Rules requiring material agreements to be filed as exhibits to reports and registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were amended to permit the redaction of immaterial and commercially...more
5/20/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Exhibit Issues ,
Extensions ,
FOIA ,
Guide ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Redacted Documents ,
Rule 24b-2 ,
Rule 406 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Sensitive Business Information
On October 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Report of Investigation (Report) detailing an investigation by the SEC’s Enforcement Division into the internal accounting controls of nine issuers...more
10/22/2018
/ Corporate Issuers ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Information Reports ,
Internal Controls ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Spoofing
On June 28, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved amendments to the definition of “smaller reporting company” (SRC) that will substantially expand the number of companies that will qualify for the scaled...more
The U.S. federal government shutdown that began Saturday has the potential to affect capital markets and public companies in far-reaching ways. While the Securities and Exchange Commission currently plans to operate fully...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has provided welcome relief to companies that have been directly or indirectly affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma or Maria and their respective aftermaths. The relief includes...more
10/4/2017
/ Delays ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Form S-3 ,
Form S-8 ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Hurricane Maria ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 144 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on June 29, 2017, that the staff (staff) of the Division of Corporation Finance will accept draft registration statement submissions from all companies for nonpublic...more
7/6/2017
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Draft Documents ,
EDGAR ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JOBS Act ,
Registration Statement ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On March 22, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted an amendment to Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c6-1(a) to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions from three...more
On November 3, 2016, in Lowinger v. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld a district court finding that customary initial public offering (IPO) lock-up agreements do not render parties...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently took several important steps to facilitate smaller securities offerings. First, it adopted final rules for the new Securities Act exemption for securities-based...more
11/5/2015
/ Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Capital Raising ,
Corporate Officers ,
Crowdfunding ,
Exemptions ,
Funding Portal ,
JOBS Act ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Public Offerings ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulation D ,
Residency Requirements ,
Rule 147 ,
Rule 501 ,
Rule 504 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a decision on April 14, 2015 that reversed a U.S. District Court opinion and vacated a permanent injunction that would have required Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to include a...more
4/16/2015
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Proxy Statements ,
Reversal ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Wal-Mart
On February 9, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released proposed rules to implement Section 955 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank). Dodd-Frank amended Section...more
2/16/2015
/ CD&A ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Employees ,
Hedging ,
Item 402(b) ,
Proxy Statements ,
Regulation S-K ,
Section 14(j) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act