Recently, Nevada passed new legislation (AB 239) to amend the Nevada Revised Statutes to provide a number of statutory liability protections, including de-emphasizing the use of Delaware case law in interpreting Nevada law. Here are five key aspects of this new legislation: 1. Modernizing fiduciary duty for controlling stockholders Nevada now defines a controlling stockholder based on actual voting power (enough to elect a board …
BlackRock’s Latest Stewardship Report: 11% of Shareholder Proposals Supported Last Year
Recently, BlackRock released its “2024 Investment Stewardship Annual Report” – here’s a 25-page executive summary. Here are six lessons learned – although note this is all about last year; not the latest proxy season: 1. Corporate governance remains a core focus. In 2024, BlackRock’s stewardship engagements largely centered on governance themes – like board quality, strategy, financial resilience and executive compensation – highlighting governance as …
Corp Fin Revises Two (And Withdraws One) Legal Proceeding Disclosure CDIs
A few weeks ago, Corp Fin revised two – and withdrew one – of the Legal Proceedings CDIs under Item 103 of Regulation S-K. These CDI changes are catching up to the reorg of Item 103 that the SEC made five years ago when the SEC incorporated Item 103’s instructions into the rule itself rule and changed the environmental proceeding quantitative thresholds. These new changes …
PCAOB May Survive Just Yet…
Last month, I blogged that the PCAOB may be absorbed by the SEC under the budget reconciliation bill that is making its way towards the finish line. In that blog, I indicated that the only thing that might stop the merger of the agencies is if the Senate parliamentarian rules that it isn’t germane to the budget. As noted in this press release by the …
Deep Dive: The SEC’s “Foreign Private Issuer” Concept Release
In this 18-minute video, Cooley’s Courtney Thorne, Katie Kazem and Reid Hooper explain: 1. What is a “foreign private issuer”? And a summary of the FPI concept release. 2. An explanation of what a ‘concept release’ is. And why the SEC issued this particular concept release at this time 3. Where do FPI companies go from here? What should companies be thinking about going forward?
Vanguard Will Restructure Into Two Distinct Investment Advisors
Last week, Vanguard issued this statement announcing a plan to split its investment management and stewardship functions into these two wholly-owned investment advisors, perhaps to help manage its growth per this Morningstar piece: Here are four things to know:
Texas Legislature Passes Law to Rein in Proxy Advisors
Recently, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2337 (SB 2337) in an effort to regulate proxy advisors – including ISS and Glass Lewis – when they provide proxy voting recommendations for those companies that are either: If signed by the Texas Governor, the law becomes effective on September 1st like other recent business-friendly laws enacted in that state (like this one relating to shareholder proposals). …
The SEC Withdraws Its Shareholder Proposal Rule Proposal That Would Have Modified Three Bases for Exclusion
Last week, the SEC issued a notice of formal withdrawal for 14 proposed rulemakings that were issued a few years ago – these rules were never adopted. The only Corp Fin rulemaking in this group was this proposal from 2022 that sought to amend Rule 14a-8 by modifying the substantial implementation, duplication, and resubmission bases for exclusion of shareholder proposals. Speaking of Rule 14a-8, as …
The FPI Concept Release: The SEC’s Concerns
A few days ago, I blogged about the SEC issuing this 71-page concept release to rethink the definition of “foreign private issuer.” This Cooley Alert penned by Brad Goldberg, Beth Sasfai, Reid Hooper and Shari Ness delves into what the regulatory concerns are – and what the potential regulatory responses could be. Here’s an excerpt: “Regulatory concerns: Key concerns raised by the SEC in the …
The SEC’s Concept Release on the ‘Foreign Private Issuer’ Definition: Why It Matters
Last week, the SEC issued this 71-page concept release to rethink the definition of “foreign private issuer” and determine which companies should get the benefits of reporting under the FPI reporting framework. Here’s the press release and the fact sheet. Comments are due 90 days from the concept release being published in the Federal Register. These two changes noted in the fact sheet highlight why …