On July 17, 2024, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) from Senate Bill 313 that had sparked considerable controversy within the corporate law and governance...more
In this midyear update, we cover a number of significant corporate governance developments that have taken place over the first half of the year and since our Corporate Governance 2023 Year-End Review....more
The Fifth Circuit has vacated the opinion we discussed in our Oct. 30, 2023, client alert Diversity in the Boardroom: Fifth Circuit Rejects Challenge to the SEC Nasdaq Board Diversity Rules; En Banc Petition Quickly Filed and...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Court) recently rejected challenges to Nasdaq’s “Board Diversity” framework. Those rules require Nasdaq-listed companies to report that they have, or explain why they do not...more
The public and private focus on corporate governance continued apace in the first half of 2023. In recent months, there were notable developments in jurisprudence potentially impacting corporate diversity initiatives and in...more
7/12/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Section 11 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Title VI ,
Wells Fargo
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
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
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
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)
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
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 Dec. 22, 2020, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) issued CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic 11 – Special Purpose Acquisition Companies to provide its views about certain disclosure considerations for...more
On Nov. 19, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to the disclosure rules affecting Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and related financial disclosures. ...more
Recent events have brought renewed attention to the push for greater diversity in the boardroom. In this alert, we discuss several developments highlighting the need for public company directors to remain focused on diversity...more
10/26/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Gender Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Woman Board Members
On September 23, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to the “shareholder proposal rule” set forth in Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which governs the process for a shareholder to have...more
On Aug. 26, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to the description of business (Item 101), legal proceedings (Item 103) and risk factor (Item 105) disclosure requirements under Regulation S-K. ...more
On Jan. 30, 2020, the SEC proposed amendments to modernize Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K....more
2/5/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Statements ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation