Category: Litigation
Can SCOTUS make sense out of “gibberish”? SCOTUS hears oral argument in case addressing state court jurisdiction over ’33 Act cases
Yesterday, SCOTUS heard oral argument in Cyan Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, which addressed whether state courts have jurisdiction over cases brought solely under the Securities Act of 1933. Here is the transcript of the oral argument for Cyan, which is discussed briefly below.
SCOTUS grants cert in case involving whistleblower statute and case involving state court jurisdiction over ’33 Act cases
SCOTUS will be hearing at least two cases of interest next term: one case, Somers v. Digital Realty Trust, will address the split in the circuits regarding whether the Dodd-Frank whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions apply regardless of whether the whistleblower blows the whistle all the way to the SEC or just internally at the company. The second case, Cyan Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, will address whether state courts have jurisdiction over cases brought solely under the Securities Act of 1933 Act.
Will dual-class structures torpedo the business judgment rule?
While there has certainly been a lot of debate about the merits and demerits of dual-class stock, one interesting angle was raised by Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware’s John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance Delaware Law. In an interview reported in Bloomberg BNA, Elson predicts that expanded use of dual-class corporate structures will lead the Delaware courts to reconsider the business judgment rule. For companies with no- or low-vote classes of shares, is the business judgment rule in jeopardy?
SEC charges company with violations of the rules related to non-GAAP financial measures
by Cydney Posner The Corp Fin staff have been dropping hints for quite a while about potential enforcement actions in connection with abuses of non-GAAP financial measures (see, e.g., this PubCo post), and an interesting one has now materialized. In an Order released today, the SEC announced settled charges against MDC […]
Adhering to Dirks, SCOTUS decides Salman v. US
by Cydney Posner In a case decided unanimously today, Salman v. United States, SCOTUS upheld the Ninth Circuit affirmation of Bassam Salman’s conviction for insider trading, “adher[ing] to Dirks, which easily resolves the narrow issue presented here.”
First SEC enforcement actions for violations of auditor independence rules resulting from personal relationships
by Cydney Posner In two orders made public today, the SEC announced settled charges against EY and individual EY auditors (and officers involved at the subject companies) with regard to alleged violations of the auditor independence rules as a result of “close personal relationships” with officers at audit clients. According […]
Ninth Circuit addresses SOX 304 clawback requirements and liability for Rule 13a-14 false certifications
by Cydney Posner A new case from the 9th Circuit, SEC v. Jensen, is the first circuit court case to confirm the SEC’s position that the “clawback” provisions of SOX 304 provide for a disgorgement remedy against CEOs and CFOs when the issuer has restated its financial statements as a […]
No more “Tandy” letters from Corp Fin staff
by Cydney Posner Corp Fin has just announced that it will no longer require companies to include “Tandy” language in company responses to staff comment letters. “Tandy” language is a written representation from the company acknowledging that the disclosure in the document was its responsibility and that it would not […]