Effective immediately, the SEC staff has relaxed conflict minerals reporting requirements by public companies. The change was triggered by the entry of a final judgment in the conflict minerals case.
...more
4/10/2017
/ Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Country of Origin ,
Democratic Republic of Congo ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Form SD ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Resource Extraction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has entered a final judgment in the conflict minerals case. The final judgment is identical to the proposed judgment which we described previously....more
Pursuant to a court order, the parties to the conflict minerals case have filed a proposed judgment after they advised the court no further proceedings were necessary. The text of the proposed judgment is as follows...more
The Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief in the case of PHH Corp. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and is scheduled for...more
3/20/2017
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Banking Sector ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
En Banc Review ,
PHH Corp. v CFPB ,
Removal For-Cause ,
RESPA ,
Single Director ,
Statutory Interpretation
The conflict minerals case was remanded to the United Stated District Court for the District of Columbia for further proceedings. Judge Jackson ordered the parties to file a joint status report indicating whether any further...more
The SEC has issued a notice of a meeting to consider:
Whether to propose amendments to rules and forms to require the use of the Inline XBRL format for the submission of operating company financial statement information...more
The conflict minerals case was remanded to the United Stated District Court for the District of Columbia for further proceedings. Judge Jackson has ordered the parties to file a joint status report, on or before March 10,...more
Following on the heels of its announcement to reconsider implementation of the conflict minerals rule, SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar has announced his intention to conduct a review of the Dodd-Frank pay ratio rule....more
As we reported, the House and Senate have passed a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act disapproving the SEC Resource Extraction Rule and that President Trump was expected to sign the legislation that...more
2/6/2017
/ Coal ,
Coal Industry ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Department of the Interior ,
Disability ,
Disability Insurance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Energy Sector ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Firearms ,
Gun Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Mental Illness ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Natural Resources ,
NICS ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Resource Extraction ,
Second Amendment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Security Act ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
Trump Administration
President Trump has signed an executive order titled “Presidential Executive Order on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System.“
The “Core Principles” are...more
As we previously noted, the House was set to vote on the disapproval of the SEC Resource Extraction Rule under the Congressional Review Act. The joint resolution passed the House by a vote of 235 in favor and 187 against. ...more
SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar issued a “Statement on the Commission’s Conflict Minerals Rule” and another statement titled “Reconsideration of Conflict Minerals Rule Implementation.”
Chairman Piwowar reviewed...more
On Wednesday, February 1, 2017, the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a joint resolution of disapproval of the SEC’s resource extraction rule. This resolution is provided for under the Congressional Review Act...more
The SEC announced that Equidate Inc. agreed to settle charges that it violated federal securities laws by failing to register security-based swaps that were offered and sold online to shareholders in pre-IPO companies....more
Something must be afoot inside the Beltway, because Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a letter to Senate and House leaders stating they will oppose ideological policy riders to year-end funding...more
Insights into an SEC composed of Trump appointees can be gleaned from Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling’s (R-TX) opening statements at a committee hearing on SEC oversight, with testimony by outgoing SEC...more
11/16/2016
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Capital Formation ,
Crowdfunding ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
JOBS Act ,
Mutual Funds ,
Presidential Elections ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business ,
Startups ,
Trump Administration
Observers widely believe President-Elect Trump will attempt to dismantle much of the Dodd-Frank Act. While to many it is an interesting idea, it may not have the consequences many believe.
Take, for instance, the...more
11/11/2016
/ Clawbacks ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Rule 14a-8 ,
Say-on-Pay ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration ,
Universal Proxy Cards
SEC staff in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations are examining compliance with key whistleblower provisions arising out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The staff is...more
The SEC has published five FAQs on its pay ratio rule – see new questions 128C.01 to 128C.05. As we noted in our checklist of preliminary planning matters for the upcoming proxy season, the pay ratio disclosure need not be...more
We are thrilled to bring you the third installment of Stinson Leonard Street's Emerging Trends newsletter. We are proud of the depth and breadth of experience and knowledge across our firm's 13 offices nationwide and are...more
10/17/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Automotive Industry ,
CFTC ,
Chemicals ,
Class Action ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Connected Cars ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Framework ,
Data Retention ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disgorgement ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Drinking Water ,
Driverless Cars ,
Employee Training ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Geolocation ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Mergers ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Amendments ,
Niantic Inc. ,
Nintendo ,
NYDFS ,
OEHHA ,
OSHA ,
Pokemon ,
Proposition 65 ,
Public Nuisance ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Safe Harbors ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Severance Agreements ,
Smartphones ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Technology ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Vendors ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Reality ,
Warning Labels ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites ,
Whistleblowers
The SEC has brought its second case for retaliation against a whistleblower against International Game Technology. According to the SEC, the whistleblower, a director of an IGT division, started working at IGT in 2008 and...more
We have written about SEC enforcement actions related to severance and confidentiality agreements that restrict reporting matters to the SEC. OSHA has also issued guidance regarding settlement agreements with whistleblowers...more
Under current CFTC rules, market participants who exceed $8 billion in gross notional swap dealing activity over a twelve-month period are required to register with the CFTC as swap dealers during the phase-in period...more
The Minnesota Department of Commerce recently conducted a series of routine exams of investment adviser firms registered in Minnesota to analyze their compliance with certain regulations applicable to investment advisers. ...more
The SEC is requesting public comment on certain disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K relating to management, certain security holders, and corporate governance matters contained in Subpart 400. This request is part of...more