On September 10, 2024, the SEC announced that it had charged Keurig Dr. Pepper for making incomplete, and therefore inaccurate, statements regarding the recyclability of its popular K-cup pods....more
9/19/2024
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Form 10-K ,
Recycling ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
As discussed in our December 15, 2023 client alert, the SEC has waged an aggressive effort to enforce alleged violations of the whistleblower protection rule. On September 9, 2024, the SEC announced settled charges resulting...more
9/16/2024
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Popular ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On August, 19, 2024, the SEC announced settled charges against Carl C. Icahn and his publicly traded company, Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP), for failing to disclose information relating to Icahn’s pledges of IEP securities –...more
8/21/2024
/ Cease and Desist ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Collateral ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Margin Calls ,
Pledges ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Schedule 13D ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
Public companies should take note of several recent developments, including:
..Reversal of the Pegasystems trade secrets lawsuit that nevertheless preserves guidance to take care when describing litigation as “without...more
8/21/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Form 10-Q ,
Industrial Espionage ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Shareholders' Agreements ,
Trade Secrets
On July 18, 2024, District Court Judge Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York issued his 107-page opinion and order dismissing most – but not all – of the landmark allegations of the SEC against SolarWinds Corp. and...more
7/29/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Misleading Statements ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
SolarWinds
Potential regulatory uncertainty in light of Supreme Court decisions. The recent Supreme Court term produced several landmark decisions affecting administrative agencies, including...more
7/10/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Insider Trading ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Ohio v Environmental Protection Agency ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
SCOTUS
As discussed in our March 3, 2023 post, the DOJ and SEC brought an insider trading case against the founder and former CEO and Executive Chairman of Ontrak, Inc. based upon the former executive failing the “clean hands”...more
7/1/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Corporate Executives ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Information ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
On June 24, 2024, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance published five additional interpretations (CDIs) addressing the effect of ransomware payments on the obligation of companies to report material cybersecurity...more
The SEC recently charged Ilit Raz, the CEO of Joonko Diversity Inc., a failed recruitment startup, with "AI washing" based on allegedly false claims that her company had developed an “automatic recruiting solution” to help...more
As discussed in our September 1, 2021 post, the SEC brought its first “shadow insider trading” case against Matthew Panuwat, a company employee who purchased options in a competitor’s shares shortly after learning his...more
6/14/2024
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Materiality ,
Misappropriation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
New SEC disclosure requirements take effect soon. Together with recent accounting guidance, it’s timely for companies to review their equity grant practices and any vulnerabilities to criticism for “spring-loading” or...more
On May 21, 2024, the Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a statement providing guidance on the use of Item 1.05 of Form 8-K to disclose cybersecurity incidents....more
One of the routine duties of counsel for a public company is advising officers and directors on their trades in company stock and their SEC responsibilities when they leave. Because those discussions are routine, it may be...more
5/22/2024
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Blackout Rules ,
Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Management ,
Rule 144 ,
Securities Regulation
As calendar-year companies prepare for upcoming quarterly reports, here are some updates and reminders...more
On March 6, 2024, a divided SEC approved climate-related disclosure rules. The new rules will require disclosure of...more
3/8/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 10-Q ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
PLSRA ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
A judge in the Southern District Court of New York recently denied a motion to dismiss filed by institutional investors in Augenbaum v. Anson Investments Master Fund LP, et al., finding that their coordinated behavior in a...more
The Delaware Chancery Court invalidated a substantial equity award to Elon Musk – the largest in history. It applied the entire fairness test instead of the more deferential business judgment rule, finding that Musk...more
2/15/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Compensation Committee ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBITDA ,
Elon Musk ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Equity Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Majority Shareholders ,
Shareholders ,
Tesla
Financial regulators in the UK have been interested for some years in the question of how personal behaviour can affect the risk profile of a financial institution. A recent SEC case suggests that US regulators may now be...more
2/14/2024
/ Consultation ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Officers ,
Criminal Justice Reform ,
Criminal Liability ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Respondeat Superior ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
On January 25, 2024, the SEC announced the settlement of cease-and-desist proceedings against Northern Star Investment Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The SEC alleged that the company failed to...more
On January 24, 2024, the SEC approved by a 3-2 vote new rules to substantially change the disclosure and liability regime governing SPACs, including de-SPAC transactions, or “SPAC target IPOs” as referred to by Chairman...more
2/1/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
New Rules ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
PSLRA ,
Regulation S-K ,
Section 145 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shell Corporations ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Target Company ,
Underwriting
As companies prepare for the upcoming proxy and annual report season, the following supplements the list of key items to consider contained in our October 2, 2023 post...more
In light of new disclosure rules as well as investor interest, companies may wish to modify their D&O Questionnaires for the 2024 proxy season to address certain hot topics...more
As readers may recall, on October 31, 2023 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Chamber of Commerce v. SEC ruled that the SEC acted arbitrarily and capriciously, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, when it...more
On October 31, 2023, the Fifth Circuit ruled in Chamber of Commerce v. SEC that the SEC acted arbitrarily and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, when it adopted the new share repurchase disclosure...more
11/6/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Dates ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
First Amendment ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 10-Q ,
Form 20-F ,
Repurchases ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Repurchases
On October 30, 2023, the SEC filed charges against SolarWinds Corp. and its chief information security officer (CISO), alleging:
..Failures to disclose known cybersecurity vulnerabilities affecting the company’s “crown...more
11/2/2023
/ Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form 8-K ,
Fraud ,
Internal Controls ,
Misleading Statements ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act