Last month, the SEC issued relief – in the form of an exemptive order – permitting certain types of tender offers to remain open for only 10 business days, cutting in half the prior general requirement of 20 business days. Here’s an excerpt from this Cooley Alert penned by Ali Murata, Michael Bergmann and Janice Chan: “What this means for equity award tenders Because of …
What’s the Historical Background of the CFIs? 9 Things to Know
Since Corp Fin recently renamed the CDIs to “CFIs” – “Corporation Finance Interpretations” to the “Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations” – I thought it would be a good time to recount the long history (50 years!) of this source of informal staff guidance. Here are nine things to know: Hat tip to Phil Brown, the former CEO of Intelligize and Tina Fukunaga, a retired SEC librarian …
The SEC’s Semiannual Reporting Proposal: Open Questions & Practice Pointers
After the SEC posted its proposing release for its semiannual reporting proposal last week, it posted this 3-minute video about the proposal. And here’s an excerpt from this Cooley Alert penned by Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Luci Altman, Vicky Peluso, Julia Boesch, Liz Dunshee, Sarah Seller and Reid Hooper: Open questions The SEC has solicited comments on a range of issues that may shape the …
The SEC Proposes Optional Semiannual Reporting: Form 10-S!
Yesterday, the SEC proposed rule and form amendments to allow companies the option of filing semiannual reports in lieu of quarterly reports. That’s a pretty fast turnaround for a proposal this important since President Trump first announced the idea back in September. Here’s the press release, fact sheet – and 279-page proposing release. And here’s SEC Chair Paul Atkin’s statement – as well as Commissioner …
Lots of New Technology Options for Retail Investors
It seems like a day doesn’t go by in which I don’t read a story about a new form of technology designed to assist retail holders so they can participate in the stock market in one form or another. Here’s a recent flurry of these articles:
The Coming Reg S-K Overhaul: The Comment Letters
Over on Cooley’s “CapitalXchange,” this blog highlights the 28-page comment letter that Cooley recently submitted to the SEC on its proposal seeking to rethink Regulation S-K. As you can tell when you read the comment letter, a lot of thought was poured into it by our team and it’s nicely organized with an easy-to-understand format. Here are the primary themes: Here are the 110 comment …
Pro Tip: An OIRA Review Means That a SEC Rulemaking is Coming Soon
As we await the SEC’s proposal on semi-annual reporting – which should be dropped any day now – it’s a good time to highlight that a rulemaking from the SEC is likely to be coming soon if its listed as being under review by the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (known as “OIRA”). When President Trump signed this Executive Order over a …
SEC Chairman Atkins Starts His Own Podcast!
This SEC has embraced social media more than most. I’ve seen some of the Division Directors announcing their speeches and otherwise posting nuggets on LinkedIn – something I can’t recall any prior senior Staffers doing. And now SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has launched a “Material Matters” podcast! According to the press release, Chairman Atkins will be joined by guests across the agency, government and industry, …
Section 16 for FPIs: Temporary No-Action Relief for Insiders in War-Torn Countries Extended
On Friday, Corp Fin extended the original grant of global no-action relief to insiders of foreign private issuers in countries impacted directly by the war going on in Iran – so that the compliance deadline for those insiders is May 29th (rather than the original extension deadline of April 20th, which is today). The countries impacted are those “organized and headquartered in Israel or any …
What Foreign Issuers Should Know About SEC Trading Suspensions
In this article, Cooley’s Will Pao, Tejal Shah and Bingxin Wu discuss the SEC’s suspension of trading for 14 Asia-based companies due to potential market manipulation – and recommend that foreign issuers consider evaluating their vulnerability to third-party market manipulation and develop a response plan in the event of a stock price rally that potentially triggers regulatory scrutiny.