Tag: Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations
Corp Fin issues some new CDIs on Rule 10b5-1 plans
On Friday afternoon, Corp Fin issued several new CDIs regarding Rule 10b5-1 plans. As you may recall, in December last year, the SEC adopted new amendments to the rules regarding Rule 10b5-1 plans. These amendments added new conditions to the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) designed to address concerns about abuse of the rule by opportunistic trading on the basis of material non-public information. Among other changes, Rule 10b5-1(c)(1) was amended to apply a cooling-off period to persons other than the issuer, impose a good-faith certification requirement on directors and officers, limit the ability of persons other than the issuer to use multiple overlapping Rule 10b5-1 plans, limit the use of single-trade plans by persons other than the issuer to one single-trade plan in any 12-month period, and add a condition that all persons entering into Rule 10b5-1 plans must act in good faith with respect to those plans. In addition, the amendments included requirements for new disclosures regarding (1) companies’ insider trading policies and procedures; (2) director and officer equity compensation awards made close in time to company to disclosure of MNPI; (3) adoption or termination by officers of directors of any 10b5-1 plan or “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement”; and (4) bona fide gifts of securities on Forms 4 by Section 16 filers and transactions under 10b5-1 plans on Forms 4 and 5. ) (See this PubCo post.)
The new CDIs, summarized below, address calculation of the cooling-off period, overlapping plans involving 401(k) plans, the new Form 4 checkbox and disclosures about adoption and termination of trading arrangements.
Corp Fin posts three new CDIs on Rule 10b5-1
Last week, Corp Fin posted (and then deleted and reposted—but that’s another story) three new CDIs regarding the affirmative defense under Rule 10b5-1. As you may recall, in December last year, the SEC adopted new amendments to the rules regarding Rule 10b5-1 plans. These amendments added new conditions to the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) designed to address concerns about abuse of the rule by opportunistic trading on the basis of material non-public information. Among other changes, Rule 10b5-1(c)(1) was amended to apply a cooling-off period to persons other than the issuer, impose a good-faith certification requirement on directors and officers, limit the ability of persons other than the issuer to use multiple overlapping Rule 10b5-1 plans, limit the use of single-trade plans by persons other than the issuer to one single-trade plan in any 12-month period, and add a condition that all persons entering into Rule 10b5-1 plans must act in good faith with respect to those plans. In addition, the amendments included requirements for new disclosures regarding (1) companies’ insider trading policies and procedures, and the use of 10b5-1 plans and certain other similar trading arrangements by directors and officers; (2) director and officer equity compensation awards made close in time to company to disclosure of MNPI; and (3) bona fide gifts of securities on Forms 4 by Section 16 filers and transactions under 10b5-1 plans on Forms 4 and 5. (See this PubCo post.) The new CDIs relate to the timing of compliance and the use and termination of multiple plans.
Corp Fin posts update to tender offer CDIs
Corp Fin has posted an update to the CDIs related to the tender offer rules and schedules. Below are brief summaries.
Corp Fin posts a slew of new CDIs on pay versus performance
On Friday afternoon, Corp Fin posted a slew of new CDIs—15 in total—regarding the new pay-versus-performance rule. You may recall that, in August last year, the SEC finally adopted a new rule that will require disclosure of information reflecting the relationship between executive compensation actually paid by a company and the company’s financial performance—a new rule that was originally mandated by Dodd-Frank in 2010. Lots of questions have arisen about implementation of the rule, and SEC representatives let it be known that CDIs on the topic would be forthcoming. (See this post from thecorporatecounsel.net blog.) Not surprisingly, most of the CDIs are about the complicated Pay Versus Performance table and are just as thorny as the rule, so get your Advil ready.
Corp Fin posts revised and new non-GAAP CDIs
The Corp Fin staff has issued a group of revised and new compliance & disclosure interpretations on the use of non-GAAP financial measures. The CDIs are more detailed and expansive in describing disclosure that the staff considers to be misleading as well as presentations that the staff believes reflect excessive non-GAAP prominence over the comparable GAAP number under Reg S-K Item 10(e). Summaries are below.
Happy Holidays!
Corp Fin posts new CDIs regarding the use of universal proxy cards
Corp Fin has issued three new CDIs regarding universal proxy. In November 2021, the SEC amended the federal proxy rules to mandate the use of universal proxies in all non-exempt solicitations in connection with contested elections of directors of operating companies. By mandating the use of universal proxies—proxy cards that, when used in a contested election, include a complete list of all candidates for director duly nominated by both management and dissidents—the SEC’s rules now allow a shareholder voting by proxy to choose among director nominees in an election contest in a manner that closely mirrors in-person voting. (See this PubCo post.) The new CDIs address questions that have arisen in connection with compliance by dissident shareholders with advance notice provisions and the use by dissident shareholders of their own proxy cards. Below are brief summaries.
Corp Fin issues new CDIs on universal proxy
At the end of last week, Corp Fin issued three new CDIs related to universal proxies under Rule 14a-19. In November 2021, the SEC amended the federal proxy rules to mandate the use of universal proxies in all non-exempt solicitations in connection with contested elections of directors of operating companies. By mandating the use of universal proxies—proxy cards that, when used in a contested election, include a complete list of all candidates for director duly nominated by both management and dissidents—the SEC’s rules now allow a shareholder voting by proxy to choose among director nominees in an election contest in a manner that closely mirrors in-person voting. (See this PubCo post.) The new CDIs address questions that have arisen in connection with notice and proxy statement disclosure. Below are brief summaries.
Corp Fin posts CDI regarding swaps and forward contracts
Corp Fin has posted a new Exchange Act CDI regarding swaps and forward contracts. Swaps and security-based swaps are subject to a comprehensive regulatory framework established under Dodd-Frank. Under release 33-9338, forward contracts are excluded from the definitions of the terms “swap” and “security-based swap.” More specifically, these definitions exclude “any sale of a nonfinancial commodity or security for deferred shipment or delivery, so long as the transaction is intended to be physically settled.” But what if the underlying securities cannot be legally transferred when the parties enter into the contract? Are they still ”intended to be physically settled”? New Question 101.01 addresses this question.
Corp Fin issues two new CDIs regarding Rule 12b-25 in the context of the SEC’s conditional relief order
The Corp Fin staff has issued two new CDIs regarding Rule 12b-25 in the context of the SEC’s conditional relief order. That order extends for 45 days the filing periods for specified SEC filings due between March 1 and July 1, 2020. (See this PubCo post.) Both of the CDIs reaffirm that companies must comply with the conditions of the order, particularly the Form 8-K/6-K requirement, to take advantage of the relief. Companies that are unable to comply “are encouraged to contact the staff to discuss collateral consequences of late filings.”
Corp Fin posts new CDIs on Inline XBRL
Corp Fin has posted some new CDIs on Inline XBRL summarized below:
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