Bipartisan Senate bill introduced to require public companies to increase transparency regarding board oversight of cybersecurity risks

by Cydney Posner Senators Jack Reed and Susan Collins have introduced the bipartisan Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2015, a bill to promote transparency in the oversight of cybersecurity risks at publicly traded companies.  According to the press release, the bill is designed to ensure that public companies “provide a basic […]

SEC staff report on review of “accredited investor” definition

by Cydney Posner Today, the SEC issued a staff report, required under Dodd-Frank, on the staff’s review of the accredited investor definition.  The purpose of the accredited investor concept is to identify, using a bright-line definition, “those persons whose financial sophistication and ability to sustain the risk of loss of investment […]

Prohibition on political spending disclosure requirement survives in omnibus spending bill, WSJ reports

by Cydney Posner The WSJ  is reporting that the provision prohibiting the SEC from adopting requirements for political spending disclosure has survived as part of the omnibus spending bill (12/15 text ).  (See this PubCo post.)   Not that the SEC was addressing the issue anyway.  More specifically, Section 707 of the bill […]

Politico reports: prohibition on corporate political spending disclosure a sticking point in omnibus spending bill negotiations

by Cydney Posner According to Politico (subscription required), a “provision to prohibit the SEC from requiring companies to disclose their political campaign contributions is one of the last sticking points in the omnibus spending package, two sources said.”  One of bill’s negotiators said there were a few sticking points remaining, one […]

PCAOB adopts rule requiring audit engagement partners to be named on new Form AP

by Cydney Posner At an open meeting this morning, the PCAOB voted to adopt new rules requiring audit firms to disclose, on new PCAOB Form AP —  Auditor Reporting of Certain Audit Participants, the name of the audit engagement partner.  The form will also disclose the names, locations and extent […]

SEC proposes new resource extraction disclosure rules — will they face another legal challenge?

by Cydney Posner This morning, the SEC voted (with Commissioner Piwowar in dissent) to propose rules, mandated by Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank, that would require disclosure on Form SD of certain payments made to the federal and foreign governments by resource extraction issuers in connection with commercial development of oil, […]

Corp Fin posts two FAST Act CDIs

by Cydney Posner The SEC has posted two new CDIs interpreting provisions of the FAST Act.  Both relate to Section 71003, which allows EGCs to omit from their registration statements certain historical financial statements.  (See this PubCo post.)

SEC Chair and staff presentations at AICPA National Conference

by Cydney Posner SEC Chair Mary Jo White and a cast of thousands from the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant delivered remarks yesterday before the 2015 AICPA National Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments. Summarized below are some of the key themes of their speeches:

Corp Fin “announcement” provides some guidance on changes resulting from the FAST Act (repaired)

by Cydney Posner On December 10, 2015, Corp Fin issued an announcement  highlighting changes in the securities laws resulting from the FAST Act.  As previously discussed in this PubCo post, this transportation bill contains several measures that modify the JOBS Act or otherwise relate to capital raising for emerging growth companies, disclosure modernization, the […]

President signs FAST Act (updated December 10, 2015)

by Cydney Posner The President has signed the FAST Act into law.  As previously discussed, this transportation bill contains several measures that modify the JOBS Act or otherwise relate to capital raising for emerging growth companies, disclosure modernization, the development of secondary markets and the registration process for smaller companies.  On […]