On April 12, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision in the case of Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. v. Moab Partners, L.P., No. 22-1165. Justice Sotomayor, writing for a unanimous Court, ruled that “pure...more
Key Points - On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the SEC in a 3-2 vote adopted “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” (Final Rule). The Final Rule will require public companies to...more
3/12/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Transparency
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted final rules (available here; also see the fact sheet and press release) representing significant changes to special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), shell...more
It seems likely the year ahead will see only a modest rebound in mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity. Among the challenges that remain for 2024, one challenge to further deal activity is the potential shortage of attractive...more
The past year has been broadly characterized as one of limited public market activity and rising interest rates putting a dampener on access to capital. For the oil & gas industry, the volume of debt & equity offerings...more
The past 12 months have been some of the trickiest to navigate for oil & gas companies in recent memory. Despite high energy prices and record cashflows, there is still uncertainty about what future paths to growth might look...more
12/21/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Capital Raising ,
Energy Sector ,
FERC ,
Financing ,
Investment ,
Mergers ,
Oil & Gas ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Renewable Energy
On December 16, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, LP, its first opinion and order on an initial decision in a Natural Gas Act (NGA) section 4 general rate case...more
Recent rulings in the United States and overseas, coupled with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recently proposed disclosure rules covering climate-risk disclosures, underscore the attention boards of directors...more
On Friday, August 6, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order (the “Order”) approving certain rule changes proposed by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”), which will require companies listed...more
Dear Clients and Friends,
In 2020, domestic and international energy markets were challenged by a worldwide pandemic and its effect on commodity prices, which accelerated disruptions in supply chains and impacted the...more
Welcome to Top 10 Topics in 2021: A Brave New World -
The world has changed a lot since our 2020 report. A global pandemic; an ongoing reckoning on race, inequality and social justice; a climate crisis; an economic shock;...more
2/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Remote Working ,
State and Local Government ,
Trade Relations
Nasdaq has proposed board diversity rules which would require companies to have, or explain why they do not have, at least two diverse directors on their boards and also provide statistical information on board...more
12/4/2020
/ Board of Directors ,
C&DIs ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
LGBTQ ,
Listing Standards ,
Nasdaq ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This episode presents the briefing “Managing the New Reality: Opportunities & Landmines for Energy Companies Right Now,” with Akin Gump corporate partner John Goodgame and financial restructuring partners Sarah Schultz, Ira...more
Policy-makers in Washington have deployed a range of actions to help address the economic fallout from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While not targeting the energy sector per se, recent actions taken by the Federal...more
As the economic turbulence associated with the downturn in commodity prices and the outbreak of COVID-19 continues, many energy companies may find their debt trading at significant discounts. For companies trying to manage...more
Election and Impeachment -
The presidential race will garner much of the attention during the 2020 election cycle, but there is fierce competition elsewhere, too. Republicans and Democrats are fighting for both U.S. House...more
1/10/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Impeachment ,
NAFTA ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Political Candidates ,
Political Corruption ,
Presidential Elections ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Trump Administration
Election and Impeachment -
The presidential race will garner much of the attention during the 2020 election cycle, but there is fierce competition elsewhere, too. Republicans and Democrats are fighting for both U.S. House...more
1/9/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
D&O Insurance ,
Diversity ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
General Elections ,
Impeachment ,
NAFTA ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Political Candidates ,
Political Corruption ,
Presidential Elections ,
Quid Pro Quo ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Woman Board Members ,
WTO
On November 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to Securities Exchange Act Rule 14a-8, which requires a public company to include shareholder proposals in the company’s own proxy...more
11/18/2019
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Investment Adviser ,
No-Action Requests ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Public Comment ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholder Proposals
On November 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to its rules governing proxy solicitations. If adopted in their current form, these proposals could significantly affect interactions...more
11/18/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Corporate Governance ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Solicitation
As we noted in a previous blog, the SEC recently adopted an amendment to Rule 15c6-1(a) to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions from three business days after the trade date (T+3) to two...more
One of the typical activities for junior associates in performing due diligence for M&A and securities transactions involving public companies is going through the “exhibit list” filed by the public company on its recent...more
3/14/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Due Diligence ,
EDGAR ,
Electronic Filing ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Hyperlink ,
Mergers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On June 27, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules requiring certain producers of oil, natural gas and minerals to publicly disclose information regarding payments to the U.S. federal government,...more
7/13/2016
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Facilitation Payments ,
Foreign Entities ,
Form SD ,
New Regulations ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Resource Extraction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Senior members of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Corp Fin”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gathered with two former SEC commissioners at the Practising Law Institute’s annual “SEC Speaks”...more
In its first published opinion applying the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund, 135 S. Ct. 1318 (2015), the 2nd Circuit has offered relief to...more
In a hotly anticipated ruling on Tuesday, Judge Chapman followed on her prior pronouncement that she was “inclined” to permit the rejection of certain gathering and processing agreements in the Sabine Oil & Gas chapter 11...more