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
On Tuesday, Apr. 18, Kramer Levin presented a hybrid program, “Charting a Course Through ESG Challenges: Perspectives from the U.S., the U.K. and Europe.” Moderated by Kramer Levin partner Andrew Otis, the event was...more
4/26/2023
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
On Feb. 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rule amendments to Exchange Act Rule 15c6-1 to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most securities transactions from two business days after trade...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
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
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
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
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, 2021, the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) made important announcements regarding the timelines of the cessations...more
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
The change in administration that will take place on Jan. 20, 2021, will likely have significant consequences for leveraged lending market participants. The relatively “soft touch” regulatory approach taken by federal...more
On Dec. 16, 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (the GAO) issued a report to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the...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
On Nov. 30, 2020, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. announced that ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA) is proposing the cessation of the publication of the one-week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR on Dec. 31, 2021, and...more
Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (CPACE) programs present a financing option that commercial real estate owners might consider to get through leaner times. Under a CPACE program, a property owner can borrow money to...more
On Nov. 5, the federal banking regulatory agencies (the Agencies) gave notice of a proposed rule (the Proposed Rule) that would elevate to the status of a formal rule and enhance the Agencies’ current policy of not issuing...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 Sept. 21, 2020, SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) posted a Compliance and Disclosure Interpretation (CDI) regarding restrictions on Form S-3 eligibility for private companies that go public via merger into a...more
On July 9, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) published a report on the findings of surveys on supervisory issues related to LIBOR transition undertaken by the FSB, the...more
In January 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) included London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) preparedness as an examination program priority in its 2020 Examination Priorities (2020...more
On May 22, Judge Gardephe granted a motion to dismiss in Kirschner v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., a case that, among other things, considered whether the origination and distribution of a syndicated bank loan is subject to...more
5/28/2020
/ Blue Sky Laws ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Material Misstatements ,
Negligent Misrepresentation ,
Omissions ,
Popular ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Syndicated Loans
On May 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to its rules governing financial disclosures relating to acquisitions and dispositions of businesses. ...more
On March 22, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (the NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the...more