Yesterday, the full House of Representatives approved H.R. 2534, otherwise known as the Insider Trading Prohibition Act.  If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, this legislation would mark an important milestone in insider trading jurisprudence.  For decades, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have pursued insider trading violations through general anti-fraud provisions, which has resulted in extensive judge-made law and ambiguity as to when actors will be…

On November 6, 2019, the SEC Division of Enforcement published its annual report for fiscal year 2019. The report provides valuable insight, not only as to the Division’s performance over the past year, but also about its current priorities and where it will be focused in the near-term future. Overall, Enforcement’s program since 2017, when SEC Chairman Jay Clayton assumed leadership of the agency, has been shaped by five “core principles”: (1) focus on…

Last week Institutional Shareholder Services updated its proxy voting guidelines for annual shareholder meetings to be held on or after February 1, 2020.  The updates take a major step forward to advocate greater gender diversity on public company boards, express fresh opposition to super-voting shares and evergreen plan provisions, enhance support for independent board chairs, and make other important modifications. Gender diversity: As it signaled last year, ISS is ramping up its expectations for gender…

WeWork, rebranded as The We Company earlier this year, officially withdrew its IPO registration statement on September 30, 2019.  The company has had an unusually rocky ride from its August 14, 2019 public filing to an outcome that few, if any, would have predicted from one of the most high profile unicorns to seek capital in the public market.  As the company moves forward with new co-CEOs, the abandoned (or delayed) IPO serves as a…

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance recently provided helpful clarity regarding the exclusion of certain shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8.  The guidance, Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14K, relates to the “ordinary business” exception and the proof of ownership requirement of the rule. By way of background, Rule 14a-8 permits shareholders of a public company to submit proposals for a stockholder vote, and the company is generally required to include those proposals unless a specific exception…

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced recently that it is adopting new Rule 163B to allow all issuers to “Test-the-Waters” with potential investors whom they reasonably believe are Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) and/or Institutional Accredited Investors (IAIs).  In 2012, the JOBS Act allowed Emerging Growth Companies (EGCs) to engage in Testing-the-Waters discussions, but companies either too large or too seasoned to qualify as EGCs did not receive this benefit. Rule 163B will afford non-EGCs, or…

Issuers would be well-advised to take note of the SEC’s recently announced $200,000 settlement of an enforcement action brought against Florida-based TherapeuticsMD, Inc., less for the legal issues involved, which present a very straightforward application of Regulation FD, than as a reminder that regulators regularly review analysts’ reports and will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute apparent violations of disclosure rules. The SEC’s enforcement action focused on two occasions during the summer of 2017 on…