In a December 18, 2019 release, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed to amend the definition of “accredited investor” in Rule 501 of Regulation D and the definition of “qualified institutional buyer” in Rule...more
1/9/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Qualified Institutional Buyers ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulation D ,
Rule 144A ,
Rule 501 ,
Rule 506 ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
It is now time for foreign private issuers to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by April...more
1/2/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Audit Reports ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EBITDA ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Form 20-F ,
Helms-Burton Act ,
IFRS ,
Libor ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
UK Brexit ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
Board Oversight Disclosure. Over the past several years, companies have increasingly used their proxy statements to communicate how their boards have exercised oversight over key matters. We expect this trend to accelerate in...more
11/15/2019
/ Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Guidance Update ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On September 25, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new rule that will enable all issuers to “test the waters” prior to publicly filing a registration statement. Currently, only emerging growth companies,...more
9/30/2019
/ Accredited Investors ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Institutional Investors ,
New Rules ,
Public Offerings ,
Qualified Institutional Buyers ,
Regulation FD ,
Rule 163B ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Testing-the-Waters Communications
On August 8, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments (the “Proposed Rule”) to modernize its existing requirements for how companies disclose risk factors and describe their business and...more
8/13/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Factors ,
Rule 144A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Although final rules were published in December of 2018, July 1st marked the date that issuers (other than smaller reporting companies and emerging growth companies) must begin complying with the Dodd-Frank Act’s hedging...more
On May 3, 2019, the SEC proposed for public comment amendments to its rules related to the financial statements required to be disclosed by SEC reporting companies or in IPOs in connection with an acquisition or disposal of a...more
On March 20, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to simplify and modernize disclosure requirements of Regulation S-K and certain forms....more
3/27/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Financial Reporting ,
GAAP ,
IFRS ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
MD&A Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
It is now time for foreign private issuers to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by 30...more
1/14/2019
/ Annual Reports ,
C&DIs ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
GAAP ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Libor ,
Mining ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
PCAOB ,
Russia ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Sponsors of Terrorism ,
Trade Policy ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies
On October 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a report outlining an investigation conducted by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement related to the internal accounting controls at nine public companies...more
10/30/2018
/ Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Email ,
Enforcement ,
Fraud ,
Information Reports ,
Internal Controls ,
Interpretive Opinions ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing
On September 18, 2018, Shearman & Sterling submitted a comment letter on the SEC’s proposed revisions to the financial disclosure requirements for registered debt securities that are guaranteed or collateralized with...more
On August 17, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the adoption of amendments to simplify and update disclosure requirements. Although the amendments are voluminous in length and breadth of provisions...more
Publishes Concept Release to Explore Rule 701 and Form S-8 Reform -
The Adopting Release -
On June 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued final rules to amend Securities Act Rule 701, which...more
On February 21, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission released new interpretive guidance on public company disclosures regarding cybersecurity risks and incidents....more
It is now time for foreign private issuers to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by 1 May...more
1/11/2018
/ C&DIs ,
Cybersecurity ,
EBITDA ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
GAAP ,
IFRS ,
Internal Controls ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Regulation S-X ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
On November 1, 2017, the staff (the “Staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I (SLB 14I) on shareholder proposals, which sets out a...more
On October 11, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to Regulation S-K designed to simplify and streamline disclosures made by public companies and reduce compliance costs while continuing to...more
On August 17, 2017, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued guidance further extending an important accommodation provided to companies contemplating going public. Under the updated guidance, all issuers, including...more
On June 29, 2017, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that, beginning on July 10, 2017, it will permit confidential submissions of draft registration statements for all initial public offerings (IPOs),...more
It is now time for a large number of foreign private issuers to prepare their annual reports on Form 20-F. For companies with a calendar year-end, the Form 20-F must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...more
1/10/2017
/ Annual Reports ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Cuba ,
Filing Requirements ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Presidential Elections ,
Resource Extraction ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK Brexit
On October 26, 2016, the SEC proposed amendments to the proxy rules that would require the use of universal proxies in all non-exempt solicitations in contested elections of directors. The focus of the SEC proposal is to...more
In May of this year, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance updated its C&DIs regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures. We summarized the May 2016 update in an earlier client publication. Since the...more
In a 318-page release published on July 13, 2016, the SEC is proposing a number of technical amendments to disclosure requirements for SEC filers that it believes have become outdated or are identical or similar to...more
On Tuesday May 17, 2016, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued new C&DIs relating to Regulation G (which governs use of non-GAAP financial measures in public disclosures generally) and Item 10(e) of...more
Significant acquisitions trigger specific financial statement requirements for the acquiring company. Part I of this publication covered when an acquisition is considered significant and what target and pro forma financial...more