Securities & Capital Markets

Megan Gates identifies cybersecurity and ESG (environment, social, and governance) as two key areas of particular interest to both the SEC and institutional investors in 2019 and the need for companies to address these areas as they update risk factor disclosures in their annual reports.

The SEC has voted to amend the definition of the term “smaller reporting company” as used in its rules and regulations. In its adopting release for these changes, the SEC indicates that the amendments “…are intended to reduce compliance costs for registrants and promote capital formation, while maintaining appropriate investor protections.”
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As our clients and friends know, each year Mintz Levin provides an analysis of the regulatory developments that impact public companies as they prepare for their fiscal year-end filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and their annual shareholder meetings.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kokesh v. SEC imposes a five-year statute of limitations on agency-sought disgorgement in SEC enforcement actions, resolving a Circuit split and definitively categorizing disgorgement as a statutory “penalty” under 28 U.S.C. § 2462.

The U.S. IPO market began 2017 with a solid start, with 25 IPOs raising nearly $10 billion in the first quarter and another 31 IPOs in the second quarter through May 15.

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 the first trading day, raising $3.4 billion and beating market expectations.

Public companies will soon be required to include an active hyperlink to each exhibit to all registration statements filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and all periodic and current reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, filed on or after September 1, 2017.

The IPO market in 2016 was abysmal, especially for the life sciences sector. Annual IPO proceeds fell to the lowest level since 2003. The IPO market forecast for 2017 is uncertain.

SEC Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar issued a public statement on February 6, 2017 requesting input on any unexpected challenges that companies have experienced as they prepare for compliance with the CEO pay ratio rule, which will become required disclosure in public company 2018 proxy statements.

As our clients and friends know, each year Mintz provides an analysis of the regulatory developments that impact public companies as they prepare for their fiscal year-end filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and their annual shareholder meetings.

A recent First Circuit decision raises the pleading bar for plaintiffs asserting violations of Section 11 of the Securities Act. Only would-be plaintiffs who acquired a security that is the direct subject of a prospectus and registration statement are entitled to sue under Section 11.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued proposed amendments to increase the financial thresholds in the definition of a “smaller reporting company” that, if adopted, will increase the number of issuers that qualify as smaller reporting companies and thereby would benefit from the scaled disclosure requirements.

On July 13, 2016, the SEC announced its adoption of several amendments that update the SEC’s rules of practice governing its administrative proceedings. 

Every year at around this time, the Mintz securities lawyers are busy collaborating with our December fiscal year-end clients to prepare for the annual year-end reporting season, involving a flurry of 10-Ks, proxy statements, governance review and upkeep, and related matters.

As our clients and friends know, each year Mintz Levin provides an analysis of the regulatory developments that impact public companies as they prepare for their fiscal year-end filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and their annual shareholder meetings.

As we have discussed before, the SEC’s increased use of in-house administrative proceedings in enforcement actions involving allegations of fraud has been a subject of considerable debate.

Three and a half years after the passage of the JOBS Act, the SEC on October 30, 2015 adopted final rules for Title III of that Act, more popularly known as equity crowdfunding and dubbed by the SEC as “Regulation Crowdfunding” (we refer to it as “Reg. CRWD”).

In her year and a half as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division, Leslie R. Caldwell has repeatedly emphasized the importance of a company having a compliance program fine-tuned to its specific risks to prevent fraud and corruption and to best position the company in the event that misconduct nonetheless occurs.

On October 22, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, who oversees DOJ’s Civil Division, spoke at the 16th Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress and Best Practices Forum in Washington, D.C.

On Monday, October 19, I’ll be moderating a panel on Strategic Considerations for Navigating a Dual-track M&A and Initial Public Offering Pathway at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Annual Conference here in Boston.