Tax reform, shifting international dynamics, Trump administration goals and a potentially strong market for transactions all seem likely to impact business activity in 2018. Below are 10 areas to explore in our 10th annual...more
1/23/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Acquisitions ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities Litigation ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for their 2018 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of key corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters on which...more
12/4/2017
/ Annual Meeting ,
Auditors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
D&O Insurance ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Filing Requirements ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
On November 16, 2017, Skadden held our webinar “Preparing for the Shareholder Proposal Season.” The panelists were Michael Garland, Assistant Comptroller for Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment in the Office of...more
11/30/2017
/ Annual Meeting ,
Board of Directors ,
Bylaws ,
Comptroller ,
Corporate Governance ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Independent Boards ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Special Meetings ,
Written Consent
Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently announced updates to its U.S. proxy voting guidelines for the 2018 proxy season. Although the updates are not likely to have a significant impact on 2018...more
11/21/2017
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Director Compensation ,
Diversity ,
Executive Compensation ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Gap ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Pledges ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
The Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I (SLB 14I), which provides important new and timely guidance for companies and...more
On October 11, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to propose changes that would modernize and simplify the disclosure items in Regulation S-K and related rules and forms. The proposed...more
10/16/2017
/ Confidentiality Policies ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Filing Requirements ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Item 303 ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In this month's edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine new privacy laws in Germany, an FTC settlement with an alleged consumer loan company over unfair and deceptive practices, the dismissal of a data...more
8/2/2017
/ Children's Toys ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Dismissals ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Germany ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Lenders ,
Member State ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Settlement ,
Standing ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
As we approach the end of the 2017 proxy season, the third since the New York City comptroller launched the Boardroom Accountability Project to enact proxy access across the U.S. market, proxy access has begun to transition...more
On June 8, 2017, the House of Representatives passed, by a 233-186 vote (with all Democrats and one Republican voting against), the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017, a bill principally designed to reverse many features of the...more
6/12/2017
/ Clawbacks ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial CHOICE Act ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Repeal ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Trump Administration
In the weeks following the U.S. presidential election, companies and investors enjoyed a stock market rally fueled by expectations concerning tax cuts, increased government spending and significant deregulation. While the...more
2/6/2017
/ Annual Reports ,
Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Diversity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Environmental Policies ,
Private Ordering ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Access Rule ,
Repeal ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholders
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we discuss how the prospect of a new chair and three new commissioners at the FTC may impact the agency's approach to cybersecurity regulation, a new Massachusetts...more
2/4/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Framework ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Internet of Things ,
NIST ,
OCR ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Public Disclosure ,
Software ,
Swiss Privacy Shield ,
Trump Administration
In this month's edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine modifications to New York state's proposed cybersecurity regulations for financial institutions, a 5th Circuit ruling that a phishing scam is not...more
1/4/2017
/ Banks ,
Commercial Crime Insurance Polices ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Financial Services ,
FCC ,
Home Depot ,
Internet of Things ,
Phishing Scams ,
Privacy Laws ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
Each company faces important decisions in preparing for its 2017 annual meeting and reporting season. Once again, we have prepared a checklist of essential areas on which we believe companies should focus as they plan for the...more
12/8/2016
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Audit Committee ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Governance ,
Director Nominations ,
Diversity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
FASB ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Resource Extraction ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Section 162(m) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On November 16, 2016, Skadden hosted a webinar titled “Preparing for the Shareholder Proposal Season.” The panelists were Amy Borrus, deputy director of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII); Skadden M&A and corporate...more
12/3/2016
/ Board of Directors ,
Bylaws ,
Corporate Governance ,
Independent Directors ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Season ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Special Meetings ,
Universal Proxy Cards ,
Written Consent
In this month's Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we review an 11th Circuit case involving the longstanding battle between the FTC and medical company LabMD, recent NIST guidelines for securing devices connected to the...more
12/2/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Appeals ,
China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Geo-Blocking ,
LabMD ,
LinkedIn ,
NIST ,
Russia ,
Section 5 ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we take a look at the FCC's new rules for broadband privacy, the FTC's new playbook for data breach response and notification, the NHTSA's voluntary guidance for...more
11/2/2016
/ Actual Injuries ,
Automotive Industry ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Broadband ,
Cloud Computing ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Breach Plans ,
Driverless Cars ,
EU ,
FCC ,
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FTC Guidelines ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Incident Response Plans ,
IP Addresses ,
National Broadband Plan ,
NHTSA ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation
On October 26, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 2-to-1 to propose amendments to the proxy rules that would require the use of universal proxy cards in contested elections. The proposed changes, if...more
10/28/2016
/ Amended Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Contested Elections ,
Director Nominations ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Materials ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders ,
Universal Proxy Cards
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine the Sixth Circuit's decision to allow injury-in-fact to be established by alleging a "substantial risk of harm" in a data breach case, New York state's...more
10/3/2016
/ Article III ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Commodities ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Authority ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Germany ,
International Data Transfers ,
NIST ,
NYDFS ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Standing ,
UK ,
Young Lawyers
New York state has proposed a new regulation — to go into effect January 1, 2017 — that would require banks, insurance companies and other financial services institutions regulated by the New York State Department of...more
9/15/2016
/ Banks ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Comment Period ,
Covered Entities ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Retention ,
Financial Institutions ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Hackers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we highlight guidance issued by the Irish data protection authority regarding the use of location data, as well as the FTC's request for comment on its Standards for...more
9/2/2016
/ Attorney General ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Class Action ,
Consent ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Internet Retailers ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
Ireland ,
Location Data ,
Misrepresentation ,
NAIC ,
Nursing Homes ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Laws ,
Public Comment ,
Right to Privacy ,
Safeguards Rule ,
Settlement ,
Social Media Policy ,
Standing ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes
Encouraged by the success of proxy access proposals in the 2015 proxy season, shareholder proponents have submitted almost 200 proxy access shareholder proposals for 2016 annual meetings. As of mid-June, approximately 65...more
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine the impact of Brexit on EU data protection, court rulings on cyber insurance policy exclusions and coverage gaps, recent statements from the FTC and the...more
6/30/2016
/ Banks ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Electronic Health Record Incentives ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Fashion Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FFIEC ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Germany ,
Hackers ,
Internet of Things ,
Privacy Laws ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
UK Brexit ,
Young Lawyers
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine recent developments, including the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Spokeo that consumer plaintiffs must show "real harm" to sue in federal court, the EU data...more
6/3/2016
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Article III ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection Commissioner ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Ireland ,
Privacy Laws ,
Risk of Loss ,
SCOTUS ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Subrogation
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine changes to EU privacy and data protection laws, new state laws addressing data breach notifications, Congress' review of cyber insurance, and recent court...more
5/3/2016
/ Class Action ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Encryption ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Future Harm ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Mobile Health Apps ,
Notice Requirements ,
Standing ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
Young Lawyers
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine the FCC's proposed privacy rules for broadband providers; new developments relating to the Privacy Shield, which was created to replace the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor...more
4/4/2016
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Data Security ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
FCC ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
IRS ,
Phishing Scams ,
Privacy Policy ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework