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*This post has been updated as of August 4, 2020.

On May 20, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission formally adopted amendments to financial disclosure regulations regarding the acquisition and disposition of certain businesses. The final rules – which are intended to update disclosure requirements for the benefit of registrants and investors – represent the most comprehensive revision to the SEC’s regulations in this area in more than 30 years. The new rules can be found here.
Continue Reading SEC Adopts Comprehensive Changes to “Significance” Tests and Financial Disclosure Requirements of Acquired and Disposed Businesses

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) both took action this month to provide issuers with much needed relief in response to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect that these measures will provide needed flexibility to many issuers, especially smaller reporting companies who have recently experienced significant stock price volatility and are in need of capital.
Continue Reading Exchange Relief: NYSE Provides Partial Waiver for Shareholder Approval of PIPE Transactions; Nasdaq Provides Relief Regarding Continued Listing Requirements

With annual reports on Form 10-K publicly filed and first quarter earnings releases getting underway, proxy season – the annual practice of filing and distributing proxy statements, reserving meeting venues and courting shareholders – is now in full effect.
Continue Reading Virtual and Hybrid Shareholder Meetings in the Era of COVID-19: What Public Companies Need to Know

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced on September 26, 2019 that it voted to adopt the application of “testing-the-waters” rules to all issuers who engage in raising capital in the public markets. This represents a significant expansion of that accommodation, as those rules were previously only available to certain issuers classified as emerging growth companies or “EGCs.” The new Rule 163B will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading Gauging Interest: SEC Votes to Approve Proposal to Expand “Test-the-Waters” Rules

On August 8, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced that it voted to propose rule amendments to modernize the description of business, legal proceedings, and risk factor disclosures that public companies are required to make pursuant to Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Continue Reading SEC Looks to Modernize Disclosure Approach

On May 24, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”). The Act, which primarily focuses on rolling back certain regulatory provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, also contained a significant change in the law for companies looking to undertake securities offerings in reliance on the revamped Regulation A (commonly referred to as “Regulation A+”) under the Securities Act of 1933.
Continue Reading New Law Requires SEC to Expand Regulation A+ To Exchange Act Reporting Companies