Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Investing in the U.S. - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Business Better Podcast Episode: Investing in Consumer Brands – A Conversation with SBJ Capital
Podcast: ESMA Report: Undue Pressure on Companies
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 330 Robin Bew and Henry Stoever of the NACD
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 328, Chris McNett on State Street Global Advisors' ESG Institutional Investor Survey
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) recently released its Annual Benchmark Policy Survey (the "Policy Survey"). In keeping with its prior practice, ISS seeks responses from institutional shareholders, issuers,...more
Recently, the Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association proposed some amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, as they do with some regularity. (See this Alert from the Delaware...more
We recently represented Klaviyo, Inc. (NYSE: KVYO), in its $576 million initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. As has been extensively reported in the media, Klaviyo’s very successful offering represented the...more
Following a series of accounting and audit scandals in recent years and what has been described as a “crisis of trust”, the UK Government, regulatory bodies, and institutional investor groups have set out to reform the UK’s...more
An update report from the Parker Review on Ethnic Diversity highlights that 96% of FTSE 100 companies have met the target of at least one minority ethnic director on their boards. FTSE 250 companies are making progress...more
Lawyers at the environmental law firm ClientEarth earlier this month personally sued the directors of one of the largest oil producers in a derivative action for their alleged failure to manage material and foreseeable...more
2022 saw the return of physical meetings for a significant majority of AGMs, with companies viewing hybrid meetings as more complex and costly. Institutional investors continue to support well organised hybrid meetings, but...more
In the early days, most company Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs were more akin to Corporate Social Responsibility, with companies publicly highlighting initiatives that benefit their communities. They...more
Companies are responding in a myriad of ways to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs), including by expanding healthcare travel benefits to reduce barriers to accessing care in...more
Ruling Follows Similar Decision on Underrepresented Minority Directors in April 2022 - A California court has held that California Senate Bill 826, which required that “publicly held” corporations that listed a California...more
Institutional investors and proxy advisory firms continue developing and refining their policies regarding board diversity. While gender diversity on public company boards has been in focus for some time now, institutional...more
Despite a California superior court’s recent ruling against a 2020 California law (AB 979), the move toward increasing board diversity is alive and well, as proxy advisory firms, institutional investors, Nasdaq and others...more
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by a revanchist Russia continues to dominate headlines as the war enters its second month. While the sometimes-terrible choices facing those living in the conflict zone are unparalleled,...more
Takeaways - ESG activist campaigners are likely to continue asserting themselves. Companies that have merged with SPACs and whose stock prices have slumped will be at risk for activist pressure. Watch for more activist...more
Takeaways - Shareholder activism continues to gain momentum in Japan as domestic institutional investors become increasingly receptive to shareholder proposals and board nominees. Even when activist proposals are...more
The fund and asset management industry has been more focused on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues in the last two years than it has been in, perhaps, the last decade....more
Takeaways - The FCA is poised to adopt rules requiring companies with equity shares listed on the premium and standard segments of the U.K. main market to report annually on their achievement of gender and ethnic diversity...more
On November 3, 2021, the staff (“staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L which reverses a series of...more
The regulator is inviting views on potential criteria for classifying and labelling investment products, and on further entity- and product-level sustainability-related disclosures. On 3 November 2021, the FCA published...more
A wave of IPOs continues to flood the market, prompting the Israel Securities Authority to publish a new staff position paper discussing three key topics. Information disclosures In principle, the Israeli Securities Law...more
A trio of recent developments illustrate growing support for Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives in the U.S., as well as abroad. ESG regulatory and legal risks now appear top of mind for institutional...more
While pressure from institutional investors, such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, has contributed to increased focus and urgency on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters, so has pressure from...more
Institutional investors and proxy advisory firms continue to develop and refine their policies regarding board diversity. While gender diversity on public company boards has been in focus for some time now, institutional...more
CONSOB approved regulatory changes to adapt the Italian second-level regulation to the Shareholder Rights Directive II. The key regulatory changes concern: - Remuneration Reporting, - Related-Party...more
ISS recently released updated methodology for its Governance QualityScore (GQS) rating system for institutional investors. The new factors relate to areas of emerging concern to investors, with 11 of the 17 new factors...more