Here’s the intro from this Cooley Alert penned by Sean Quinn, Michael Egan, Janet Kim, Bobby Ghajar, Jude Lauter, Tristan Lockwood, Adam Silow and Rebecca Kahn: “On March 20, 2026, the White House released its National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence (“the Framework”) outlining the administration’s recommended federal approach to AI regulation. The Framework is the most concrete statement yet of where the administration wants Congress …
Delaware Supreme Court Upholds SB 21!
Last week, in Rutledge v. Clearway Energy Group LLC, No. 248, 2025 (Del. Feb. 27, 2026), the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the validity of SB 21, including the provisions that provide for its retroactive application. Here’s a statement from the Delaware Governor. You might recall that SB 21 is legislation that Delaware enacted last March – designed to counter any notion that there is a DExit …
Audit Committee Disclosure: In a Nutshell
Here’s the basics – and some nuances – of what you need to know about audit committee disclosure under Item 407(d) of Regulation S-K: 1. Audit committee charter: Yes, you need one Disclose whether the audit committee has a charter. NYSE and Nasdaq require a charter – and if it’s not on your website, it must appear in the proxy as an appendix at least …
Corp Fin Posts First “Reasonable Basis” Rule 14a-8(j) Notice (For a Pending No-Action Request)
Earlier this week, Corp Fin issued this statement saying that it won’t respond to no-action requests – at least until September 30, 2026 – unless a company is seeking relief under Rule 14a-8(i)(1). Companies are still required to notify the SEC and proponents of their intention to include under Rule 14a-8(j) – and one of the open questions was whether the SEC would be posting …
It’s Here! Cooley’s “Post-IPO Governance Report”!
Going public is exciting and it often involves an evolution of some of your governance practices to match what is required – or expected – of your company now that it’s subject to SEC rules and stock exchange listing standards. But that evolution likely represents just the first steps towards joining the governance world inhabited by companies that have been publicly traded for a long …
What Nom & Gov Committees Are Asking Corporate Secretaries Right Now
Sparked by Cooley’s Brad Goldberg’s discussion on a panel during the recent “Proxy Disclosure” conference hosted by TheCorporateCounsel.net – the Fall event that I founded many years ago – this blog features a list of the questions that Nom & Gov committees are commonly asking right now. Brad notes this list includes:
The Joy of the “Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance”
It’s not just because my oldest son attended Berkeley for school (known as “Cal”), but I legitimately believe that the “Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance” is one of the finest governance events of the year. It’s practical – and the networking is unique with many directors attending. The event is held in San Francisco and virtually. This year’s event on October 28th and 29th …
The Biggest Problem With Board Meeting Agendas? They Get Too Routine
The most common problem with board meeting agendas is they get too routine. You pull up the agenda from last year for that particular meeting and it gets a perfunctory look and it’s sent out. Most sets of governance guidelines include a recommendation that the lead director/ board chair gets a bite at the apple and reviews the board agenda. But that often is a …
How to (Appropriately) Use AI to Take Notes
Recently, I blogged about considerations to ponder when deciding which situations are appropriate to use AI to help you take notes. I offered the reasons why it’s never appropriate to use AI to take notes at board and board committee meetings (and I also noted that corporate secretaries should bake AI into their board meeting compliance warnings). But there are plenty of situations where AI …
Independent Board Chairs: Seven Practice Pointers
Recently, the NYSE and JPMorgan released this lengthy “Board Structure and Composition” white paper and Cooley was proud to contribute Chapter 20 “Independent Board Chair – Trends and Issues” chapter (pp. 157–163). Here are seven practice pointers from that: 1. Clarify the Role of the Chair: Define and document the independent chair’s duties in a committee charter, governance guidelines, or board policy to avoid confusion …