Litigation developments: core M&A and corporate governance doctrines
Compliance Perspectives: Due Diligence and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)
The annual DGCL amendments this year carry a little more urgency than before. SB21 was rushed through to the Delaware Senate in mid-February, bypassing the normal process that involves recommendation by the Council of the...more
On Friday, the SEC announced settled charges against Vince McMahon, founder, controlling shareholder and former Executive Chair and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, for “knowingly circumventing WWE’s internal accounting...more
In this issue, we explore ongoing corporate law issues involving controlling stockholders, with significant decisions anticipated from the Delaware Supreme Court in 2025; the rise in litigation over earnout provisions in...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed a “hybrid” of Malone1 false disclosures and Caremark oversight claims brought by two stockholder plaintiffs. In In re FibroGen, Inc. Derivative Litigation,2 Vice Chancellor...more
Last month, the SEC announced another enforcement action emphasizing the need for early disclosure of cybersecurity events. In the recent action, the company had taken three weeks to act on internal alerts of malware on its...more
Delaware’s Legislature passed significant amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) in June, at the end of its legislative session. These amendments were signed into law by Governor John Carney on July...more
Over the past decade, environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics have featured heavily in social and political discourse. ESG has also become prominent in the boardroom as directors navigate how best to address...more
In this issue, we cover regulatory developments from the fourth quarter of 2023 impacting the investment management sector, including the use of shareholder rights plans as an alternative to state control share statutes....more
This comprehensive report includes five-year trend data, covering the 2018-2022 proxy seasons, for annual meeting participation, director elections, say-on-pay and other proposals among the technology and life sciences...more
On April 27, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery in In re Tesla Motors Stockholder Litigation rendered a post-trial verdict finding for Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, Inc., on claims that Musk breached his...more
On February 10, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the rules governing beneficial ownership reporting under Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These...more
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards in contested director elections as discussed in Release No. 34-93596 (the Adopting Release). Universal...more
The proxy rule changes coming into effect after the coming proxy season are thought to have the effect (possibly intended) of making it easier for activists to place their candidates on Boards of Directors. It is thought...more
In 2016, respondent China Yida Holding, Co. (CY), a Nevada corporation, merged with a private holding company, taking CY private and delisting it from the Nasdaq stock exchange. The merger agreement and the proxy statement...more
A Win for Deal Certainty, Delaware Court of Chancery Orders Closing of Cake Supplier Acquisition; Under Armour to Pay $9M to Settle SEC Charges Involving Disclosure Failures; First Circuit Upholds Decision Applying Federal...more
On May 27, 2020, the staff of the Division of Investment Management (Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement regarding the intersection between state control share acquisition statutes...more
On May 27, 2020, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (the “Division”) issued a new statement (the “Staff Statement”) addressing the intersection between state control share acquisition statutes and the...more
This is our global initial public offering guide. It will help you navigate the US portion of a global IPO – in other words, an IPO in which you sell locally listed ordinary shares to investors outside the United States under...more
T-Mobile chief and fan-of-magenta John Legere has announced that he’ll be stepping down in April at the end of his current contract. Legere will be succeeded by Mike Sievert, the carrier’s current president and COO....more
Corporate Governance and Securities Law Developments - Directors Can Be Held Liable for Failure to Oversee “Mission Critical” Regulatory Compliance - On October 1, the Delaware Court of Chancery refused to dismiss a...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between September 2018 and October 2018. ...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between May 2018 and August 2018.... US Supreme Court - Supreme Court Holds That SEC Administrative Law Judges...more
In monitoring SEC comment letters, we came across this SEC comment letter made public this month. It serves as a reminder to registrants that, when calculating a company’s public float, there is an informal presumption that a...more
Snap Inc., which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 2nd, was the largest tech IPO since Alibaba went public in 2014. Initially priced at $17 per share, the share price jumped to more than $24 by the end of...more
In Re Saba Software, Inc. Stockholder Litigation considered whether the stockholder vote satisfied the Corwin test for a full informed, uncoerced vote to determine if the shift to the business judgement rule was warranted. ...more