The Securities and Exchange Commission has expanded the confidential filing options, including...more
On March 3, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued new guidance, effective immediately, significantly expanding the ability of companies to...more
In Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani, No. 22-200, 2023 U.S. LEXIS 2301 (U.S. June 1, 2023), the Supreme Court of the United States (Gorsuch, J.) held that Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), 15...more
The unanimous opinion requires shareholder plaintiffs to plead and prove that they purchased shares traceable to an allegedly false or misleading registration statement. On June 1, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued its...more
The U.S. Supreme Court held that purchasers of shares sold to the public through a direct listing cannot sue under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 unless they can trace their shares to an allegedly defective...more
In the first published decision of a court of appeal outside Delaware, on April 28, 2022, the California Court of Appeal in Wong v. Restoration Robotics, Case No. A161489, affirmed the trial court’s decision to enforce a...more
The decision appears to create a new rule for determining standing to bring Securities Act claims in the context of direct listings. The Slack Direct Listing Decision - On September 20, 2021, the US Court of Appeals...more
One of the most significant differences between bringing a securities lawsuit in state versus federal court is the application of the mandatory discovery stay set forth in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (the...more
WeWork, rebranded as The We Company earlier this year, officially withdrew its IPO registration statement on September 30, 2019. The company has had an unusually rocky ride from its August 14, 2019 public filing to an outcome...more
The SEC issued new rules in a release captioned “Solicitations of Interest Prior to a Registered Public Offering.” New Rule 163B enables all issuers to engage in test-the-waters communications with qualified institutional...more
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit offers an important reminder of the distinction between the roles (and exposure to liability) of corporate directors and board observers. In a precedential...more
On July 11, 2019, Justice Andrew Borrok of the New York State Supreme Court, County of New York, Commercial Division, dismissed a putative securities class action against a Brazilian based online retailer (the “Company”),...more
On February 19, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to propose a new rule under the Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act), and amendments to Rule 405 (together, the Proposed Rule), to expand the...more
On February 19, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to propose Rule 163B under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), that would expand the “testing-the-waters” accommodation —...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini provided insight on a case brought by investors alleging a company violated certain securities laws by issuing a false registration statement in conjunction with its IPO. In the...more
Although EDGAR continues to accept filings, the government shutdown has now eclipsed its 28th day and the SEC continues to operate with limited staff which is having a crippling effect on the ability of many companies to...more
Sciabacucchi v. Salzberg, C.A. No. 2017-0031-JTL (Del. Ch. Dec. 19, 2018) - Delaware law permits a Delaware corporation to include a forum-selection provision in its certificate of incorporation governing all “internal...more
Generally speaking, the federal securities laws were drafted with the purpose of limiting the kind and amount of pre-offering publicity permitted in registered public offerings. Pursuant to Section 5(c) of the Securities Act...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini analyzed this putative class action brought against Match Group for alleged violations of the Securities Act of 1933 related to the company’s 2015 initial public offering (IPO)....more
Beginning July 10, 2017, the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will permit all companies to submit draft registration statements relating to initial public offerings (IPOs) for...more
The SEC announced earlier this summer (and supplemented that announcement late last week with additional information) that it has expanded the availability of its popular procedure for confidential non-public review of, and...more
On August 17, 2017, the SEC supplemented the information in its June 29 announcement regarding its expanded draft registration statement processing procedures, which allowed companies that were not emerging growth companies...more
Last week, the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that, beginning on July 10, 2017, the SEC will accept voluntary draft registration submissions from all issuers for nonpublic review. This...more
On June 29, Corp Fin announced that it was extending the process for confidential submission of draft registration statements, currently available only for IPOs of emerging growth companies, to IPOs of companies that are not...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on June 29, 2017, that the staff (staff) of the Division of Corporation Finance will accept draft registration statement submissions from all companies for nonpublic...more