All posts by Cydney Posner

Corporation Section of Delaware bar approves amendments re fee shifting and forum selection, substantially as proposed, and some other stuff

by Cydney Posner The Corporation Law Section of the Delaware Bar has approved, substantially as proposed, the amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law  proposed by the Delaware Bar’s Corporation Law Council regarding fee-shifting and forum selection provisions in Delaware governing documents. (See this post.) Accordingly, it is anticipated that […]

Is there a gaping hole in the proposed Delaware legislation on fee-shifting bylaws?

by Cydney Posner Leave it to a distinguished law professor to actually read the text of proposed legislation and locate the gaping hole in it. In this post, “Delaware Throws a Curveball,” Professor John Coffee analyzes the proposed Delaware legislation on fee-shifting bylaws and finds it wanting.

Companies breathe sigh of relief — FASB to propose deferral of effective date of new revenue recognition standard

by Cydney Posner According to FASB’s “Tentative Board Decisions,” the FASB board decided yesterday to defer the effective date of the new revenue recognition standard by one year. As a result, public companies will need to apply the new revenue standard for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (i.e., […]

SEC brings enforcement action for use of confidentiality agreements that impede whistleblowers

by Cydney Posner Well, the folks in the SEC’s whistleblower office were looking for a case to bring and it looks like they found one.  As indicated in this press release, today, the SEC announced that it had brought “its first enforcement action against a company for using improperly restrictive […]

Activists seek to exclude abstentions from the voting standard for shareholder proposals

by Cydney Posner The WSJ is reporting on a move by some shareholder activists to change the way votes are counted.   One shareholder activist group has studied the voting results for shareholder proposals over the period from 2004 to 2014, identifying 63 cases in which the “yes” votes outnumbered […]

What have the conflict minerals rules cost the SEC?

by Cydney Posner Sure, companies have spent millions and millions on conflict minerals compliance. But what have the conflict minerals rules cost the SEC? According to Reuters, reporting on a response by SEC Chair Mary Jo White to a request by a group of Republican House members, the SEC “has […]

CFSI posts “Five Practical Steps to Support SEC Conflict Minerals Disclosure”

by Cydney Posner The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative has posted an updated 2015 version of its practical guidance white paper on conflict minerals specifically for downstream companies, called “Five Practical Steps to Support SEC Conflict Minerals Disclosure.” CFSI’s Practical Steps is designed  to provide more flexible guidance to downstream companies in satisfying […]

SEC adopts Reg A+

by Cydney Posner At an open meeting this morning, the SEC adopted rules and forms related to the offer and sale of securities under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act, so-called Reg A+, as mandated by Section 401 of the JOBS Act.  Currently, Reg A allows companies to raise up […]

Certified B Corporation files for IPO

by Cydney Posner Recently, the online crafts marketplace, Etsy, filed an S-1 for a $100 million IPO led by first tier underwriters. As reported in CFO.com, the company values itself at about $1.7 billion. What’s different about this IPO — aside from being about as far from the typical high-tech […]

SCOTUS decides Omnicare: 6th Circuit applied incorrect standards in the context of liability under §11 for statements of opinion

by Cydney Posner Today, SCOTUS issued its opinion in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund.   In the case, SCOTUS answers these questions: First, when can a statement of opinion be considered a “false statement of material fact”? That is, for purposes of §11, a “strict […]