Governance & Compliance Insider

Annual Report Reminders for Foreign Private Issuers

Annual Report Reminders for Foreign Private Issuers

There are a couple of recent developments that we would like to remind issuers to keep in mind for their upcoming annual reports. Foreign private issuers who prepare their financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) will be required to file their annual audited financial statements in XBRL format in respect of any period ending after December 15, 2017 (i.e., for...

CEO Pay Ratio Rule Will Not Be Delayed

CEO Pay Ratio Rule Will Not Be Delayed

At last Friday’s ABA annual meeting, Bill Hinman (with the standard disclaimer that he is speaking for himself and not on behalf of the SEC) confirmed that the SEC will not be delaying implementation of the CEO pay ratio rule, which will require most public companies to report the pay ratio in their 2018 proxy statements, for the first fiscal year beginning on or after...

Equifax Data Breach: Preliminary Lessons for the Adoption and Implementation of Insider Trading Policies

Equifax Data Breach: Preliminary Lessons for the Adoption and Implementation of Insider Trading Policies

Insider trading allegations have surfaced at Equifax, a credit rating agency that last week announced a data breach that could potentially affect 143 million consumers in the United States, nearly half of the country’s population. SEC filings show that three Equifax executives sold nearly $2 million in shares of the company’s common stock days after the cyberattack was discovered but before the news was publicly...

Regulation A+ May Become Available To SEC Reporting Issuers

Regulation A+ May Become Available To SEC Reporting Issuers

On September 5, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed (by a vote of 403-3) the Improving Access to Capital Act. The Act directs the SEC to amend Regulation A+ to allow SEC reporting issuers to use Regulation A+ when raising capital, and to deem their SEC periodic reports to satisfy the periodic and current reporting requirements of Tier 2 of Regulation A+. The...

NYSE Rule Change Requires Ten Minutes Advance Notice of Public Announcement of Dividends or Stock Distributions

NYSE Rule Change Requires Ten Minutes Advance Notice of Public Announcement of Dividends or Stock Distributions

On August 14, 2017, the SEC approved an NYSE rule change that requires listed companies to give notice to the NYSE at least 10 minutes before any public announcement of dividends or stock distributions, even if such announcements occur outside the hours of the Exchange’s current immediate release policy. The rule change was effective immediately. The Exchange’s immediate release policy (Sections 202.05 and 202.06 of...

Vanguard Shareholder Climate Change Proposal Withdrawn

Vanguard Shareholder Climate Change Proposal Withdrawn

As previously reported on this blog, Vanguard received a shareholder proposal requesting additional disclosure on its climate change voting record, and the proposal was scheduled to appear on the agenda for Vanguard’s 2017 annual meeting.   Today, Vanguard announced that it had negotiated the proposal’s withdrawal. Glenn Booraem, the Vanguard Funds’ Investment Stewardship Officer, commented: “Climate change represents an evolving set of risks and opportunities...

SEC Warns That ICOs and Other Internet Token Sales May Be Securities Offerings Subject to Federal Securities Laws

SEC Warns That ICOs and Other Internet Token Sales May Be Securities Offerings Subject to Federal Securities Laws

On Tuesday, July 25, as many practitioners probably expected, the SEC issued a warning that offers and sales of digital assets (virtual coins or tokens) by organizations using blockchain or distributed ledger technology (often referred to, among other things, as Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) or Token Sales) are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws. Depending on the offering, investors may use an...

SEC Updates Regulatory Flex Agenda, Tables Dodd-Frank Rules on Executive Compensation Disclosure

SEC Updates Regulatory Flex Agenda, Tables Dodd-Frank Rules on Executive Compensation Disclosure

The SEC’s semi-annual update of its rulemaking docket was released on July 20. Overall, the SEC has cut its rulemaking agenda by about half under the Trump administration. A number of long-anticipated Dodd-Frank rulemakings on executive compensation disclosure are missing from the docket: Pay Versus Performance Listing Standards for Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation (Clawbacks) Disclosure of Hedging by Employees, Officers and Directors Incentive Compensation at...