Category: Securities

Exhibits just one click away!

by Cydney Posner At an open meeting this morning, the SEC voted to adopt new rule and form amendments requiring that the exhibit index in registration statements and reports contain hyperlinks to the exhibits listed and that these filings all be made in HTML format. (The SEC also voted to […]

Another theory on Corp Fin’s position on proxy access fix-it proposals

by Cydney Posner Corp Fin has refined its position with regard to exclusion of proposals to amend existing proxy access bylaws.  However, the basis for the staff’s determination to grant or refuse no-action relief in that context remains a conundrum.

For the avoidance of doubt, Acting Corp Fin Director confirms conflict minerals and pay-ratio disclosure rules still in effect

Cydney Posner As reported by the WSJ, at the SEC Speaks conference today, to avoid any doubt on the matter, Acting Corp Fin Director Shelley Parratt reminded companies that, notwithstanding the two requests for public comment issued by Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar and all of the Executive Orders aimed […]

Corp Fin refines its position on proxy access fix-it proposals (updated)

by Cydney Posner Corp Fin has refined its position with regard to exclusion of proposals to amend existing proxy access bylaws.  As you may recall, the line drawn so far by Corp Fin has been that, where the shareholder proposal related to initial adoption of proxy access, Corp Fin has continued to […]

Recent trends in proxy statements

by Cydney Posner It just isn’t proxy season without some kind of account of the latest trends in proxy statements, so here’s one from CFO.com.

Corp Fin suggests it will take a look at non-GAAP disclosure practices in the pharmaceutical industry

by Cydney Posner Even important industry players can sometimes run up against brick walls at Corp Fin. In a recent give-and-take with the SEC, Allergan was scolded for its use of certain non-GAAP financial measures in its press releases.  While in its responses to the staff, the company cogently explained […]

Will the SEC be instructed to waive any or all of the conflict minerals requirements on the basis of national security interests? (Updated)

by Cydney Posner Remember all the way back to last week when Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar issued two statements on the conflict minerals rules?  (See this PubCo post.) Remember too that the first statement directed the staff to revisit the 2014 guidance from the director of corp fin regarding conflict […]

What to make of the latest Executive Order on financial regulation?

by Cydney Posner As reported all over the place, a new Executive Order has been signed directing the Secretary of the Treasury to consult with the heads of the member agencies of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (which includes the SEC) and report to the President within 120 days identifying […]

Dodd-Frank pay-ratio disclosure rules to be reconsidered — pencils down for now?

by Cydney Posner Today, Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar issued yet another statement directing the Corp Fin staff to revisit the pay-ratio disclosure rules.  Of the non-bank related mandates imposed by Dodd-Frank, disclosures regarding resource extraction payments, conflict minerals and pay ratio were the provisions that seemed to elicit the […]

Acting SEC Chair to revisit 2014 guidance on conflict minerals rules

by Cydney Posner Yesterday, Acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar issued two statements — available here and here — on the conflict minerals rules, neither of which is definitive, but which together make clear that further guidance on the rules is in the offing and that it may well involve some […]