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
In October 2019, for the third consecutive year, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance concerning companies’ ability to exclude...more
On July 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by a 3-1 vote, adopted amendments to the federal proxy rules relating to proxy voting advice businesses (proxy advisors). The amendments categorize the...more
7/27/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Exemptions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Public Disclosure ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solicitation
On April 6, 2020, the governor of Delaware, John Carney, issued an executive order addressing the notice requirement for public companies that switch their stockholders’ meetings from a physical location to a “virtual”...more
4/8/2020
/ Board of Directors ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Executive Orders ,
Filing Requirements ,
Governor Carney ,
Notice Requirements ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Shareholders ,
Virtual Meetings ,
Websites
As health organizations and governments around the world work to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19), businesses should be mindful of the various ways the virus may impact their operations and employees. The wide range of...more
3/5/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Business Interruption ,
Capital Markets ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Commercial Contracts ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Cybersecurity ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Policies ,
Equity Securities ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Global Economy ,
Leveraged Finance ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Public Safety ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Supply Chain ,
Virtual Meetings
In this month's edition, we examine the California attorney general's proposed modified regulations under the CCPA, the Treasury Department's new CFIUS regulations, and the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and...more
3/3/2020
/ BPCIA ,
Business Losses ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
CFIUS ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Foreign Investment ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standing ,
State Privacy Laws ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ICO
Despite political and economic uncertainties, markets and deal activity were resilient in 2019, and strong fundamentals remain in place heading into 2020. Companies continue to face a challenging litigation and enforcement...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney General ,
Backstop Agreements ,
BEPS ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Common Stock ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Subpoenas ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Covenant Lite Deals ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
DACA ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Debt Financing ,
Debtors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Disgorgement ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Down Rounds ,
Drug Pricing ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Issuers ,
FRCP 23 ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
General Elections ,
GILTI tax ,
High-Yield Markets ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Individual Accountability ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intercreditor Agreements ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
IRS ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Japan ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Sciences ,
Listing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Multinationals ,
National Security ,
PCAOB ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Political Parties ,
Preferred Shares ,
Private Offerings ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Refinancing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Separation of Powers ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Litigation ,
Technology Sector ,
Third-Party Release Agrements ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation ,
White Collar Crimes
Three significant trends mark the last decade in corporate governance, and they have only accelerated over time: (i) the dismantling of structural provisions that some shareholders believe insulate directors from...more
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2020 annual meeting and reporting season. We have prepared a checklist of key corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters on which we...more
12/3/2019
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Audits ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Director Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Glass Lewis ,
Hedging ,
Insider Trading ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Pay Ratio ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
On November 14, 2019, Skadden held a webinar titled “Preparing for the Shareholder Proposal Season” with panelists Amy Borrus, Deputy Director of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII); Marc Lindsay, Senior Strategist,...more
11/25/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Business Roundtable ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
No-Action Requests ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Special Meetings
On November 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by 3-2 votes, issued two releases proposing a number of amendments to the federal proxy rules. The first release proposed changes to certain procedural...more
11/8/2019
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Threshold Requirements
On October 16, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K (SLB 14K), providing updated guidance concerning shareholder...more
On September 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a statement regarding no-action requests to exclude shareholder proposals under Exchange Act Rule...more
On August 21, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by a 3-2 vote, issued two separate releases providing interpretive guidance relating to the proxy voting process. One release addresses the proxy voting...more
8/27/2019
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Corporate Governance ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In November 2017, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance concerning companies’ ability to exclude shareholder proposals from their proxy...more
6/19/2019
/ Board Analysis ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Executives ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Executive Compensation ,
Micromanagement ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Requests ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Political Contributions ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals
In this month's edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine expanded data breach notification laws in New Jersey and Washington state, as well as the SEC's risk alert regarding cloud-based storage solutions. We...more
6/3/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Annual Reports ,
Cloud Storage ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Finland ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
UK
In this month's Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine several recent U.K.-related cybersecurity developments and the SEC's risk alert reminding investment advisers and broker-dealers to follow through on implementing...more
5/1/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Canada ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cyber Policies ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
ENISA ,
Equifax ,
EU ,
Fines ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hackers ,
Investment Adviser ,
NCSC ,
OCIE ,
PIPEDA ,
Popular ,
Privacy Comissioners ,
Privacy Laws ,
Privacy Policy ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Regulation S-P ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Surveys ,
TCPA ,
UK ,
UK Data Protection Act ,
UK ICO ,
Unsolicited Faxes
On February 6, 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission published new interpretive guidance regarding board diversity disclosures, which should be considered when preparing...more
2/13/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Director Nominations ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
New Guidance ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qualification Standards ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Woman Board Members
On November 13, 2018, Skadden held our webinar “Preparing for the Shareholder Proposal Season.” The panelists were Peter da Silva Vint, Vice President of BlackRock’s Americas Investment Stewardship Group; Michael Garland,...more
11/21/2018
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Diversity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Proxy Access ,
Proxy Season ,
Ratification ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Special Meetings
On October 23, 2018, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14J (SLB 14J), which provides important guidance concerning shareholder...more
10/25/2018
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Executive Compensation ,
Micromanagement ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Relief ,
Ordinary Business Exception ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders
On August 17, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amended certain disclosure requirements that have become duplicative or outdated. The amendments, which reflect the SEC’s efforts to implement the Fixing...more
In the period leading up to the 2018 proxy season, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I (SLB 14I), which provided new...more
On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an interpretive release providing guidance for public companies relating to disclosures of cybersecurity risks and incidents. Although the...more
2/26/2018
/ Annual Meeting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form 8-K ,
Materiality ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation FD ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
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