The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the majority of claims that the Security and Exchange Commission ("SEC") asserted against SolarWinds, including claims that the company's alleged...more
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) requires the most detailed and onerous ESG reporting and disclosures anywhere in the world. All told, it is estimated that more than 50,000 companies, including...more
9/21/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Parent Corporation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Sustainability ,
Water
On May 3, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules regarding public company issuers' share repurchases and Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. Although the final rules are not as burdensome as the proposed...more
After a record-breaking 2021, deal activity in 2022 dropped by 37%, its largest year-over-year decline since 2001. Facing all the 2022 headwinds, including a difficult and uncertain financing market, the Ukraine war,...more
The focus on ESG across the business spectrum ramped up over the course of 2021, surpassing several milestones along the way and resulting in a surge of regulatory changes and new initiatives by the end of the year....more
2/2/2022
/ Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Bonds ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Sustainability
ESG/DEI Frenzy in 2022 -
Investor losses resulting from stock market crashes have driven most major turns in corporate governance. In this century, director independence and audit/accounting assurance came into focus after...more
The Board Diversity Proposal generally requires each Nasdaq-listed company "to have, or explain why it does not have, at least two members of its board of directors who are Diverse," defined as at least one director who...more
8/16/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
LGBTQ ,
Listing Standards ,
Minorities ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Woman Board Members
The Situation: A number of shareholder derivative lawsuits in federal court have been filed seeking to hold directors and officers of major companies accountable for alleged failures to uphold their companies' stated...more
7/20/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivative Suit ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Forum Selection ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
The Situation: On July 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted final rule amendments to regulate proxy voting advice as part of its emphasis on modernizing the proxy process. The final SEC...more
8/19/2020
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solicitation
On May 21, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted amendments to its financial disclosure requirements related to acquisitions and dispositions. These amendments streamline and eliminate immaterial...more
The Investor Advisory Committee of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently recommended that the SEC promulgate specific disclosure policies regarding environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") topics...more
The Background: The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") published guidance affecting proxy advisory firms and the investment advisers that rely on them as a follow-up to its November 2018 proxy process...more
9/18/2019
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)