Tag: SEC
Nasdaq proposes new rules to address emerging market listings; Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act
Yesterday, the SEC formally announced its July 9 roundtable on emerging markets. In the announcement, the SEC observed that, “while the U.S. securities laws and regulations applicable to emerging market companies listed on U.S. exchanges are the same as (or comparable to) the laws and regulations applicable to U.S. public companies, the practical effects often are substantially different, based on the inability of U.S. regulators to inspect for compliance and enforce these rules and regulations.” In the meantime, Nasdaq appears to have taken the matter to the next level. Nasdaq’s three new proposals haven’t been posted by the SEC yet—so there may still be a lot of behind-the-scenes negotiation before they see the light of day on the SEC’s website—but they are clearly designed to address these concerns about emerging market issuers, especially lack of accounting controls and transparency. Not to be outdone, the Senate yesterday passed a bill that could bar from listing on U.S. exchanges companies audited by firms that the PCAOB is prohibited by foreign authorities from inspecting.
SEC Chair Clayton addresses Financial Stability Oversight Council
At the end of last week, SEC Chair Jay Clayton addressed the Financial Stability Oversight Council, focusing on three areas: market function, market monitoring and corporate and other issuer disclosure. Early in his remarks, Clayton praised the efforts of FSOC “to preserve the flows of credit and capital in our economy[, which] have substantially mitigated the economic consequences of COVID-19.” He noted in particular that “the rapid fiscal, monetary and financial regulatory response to market and economic effects of COVID-19 has been both remarkable and appropriate.” However, it was the data he provided on market functioning and volatility that was most revealing.
In new statement, SEC and PCAOB officials highlight emerging market risk disclosure
In this new Statement, a number of SEC and PCAOB officials—SEC Chair Jay Clayton, PCAOB Chair William D. Duhnke III, SEC Chief Accountant Sagar Teotia, Corp Fin Director William Hinman and Investment Management Director Dalia Blass—discuss the risks and exposures of companies based, or with significant operations, in emerging markets, for both U.S. issuers and foreign private issuers. Although the SEC is committed to high-quality disclosure standards, its ability to enforce these standards in emerging markets is limited and is “significantly dependent on the actions of local authorities” and the constraints of “national policy considerations.” As a result, in many emerging markets, “there is substantially greater risk that disclosures will be incomplete or misleading and, in the event of investor harm, substantially less access to recourse, in comparison to U.S. domestic companies.” The Statement is summarized below. The message is that, notwithstanding similarity in form and appearance between disclosures from U.S. domestic companies and disclosures from or related to emerging markets, disclosures from emerging markets may well differ in scope and quality and companies need to provide appropriate risk disclosure in that regard.
Senators urge SEC to institute moratorium on non-COVID-19-related rulemaking
The SEC has announced that, in light of the challenges associated with COVID-19 and particularly the difficulty associated with submission of comment letters, it will not take formal action before April 24 on a number of different proposed rulemakings with comment periods otherwise set to expire in March. Of course, the SEC has historically been open to consider comments submitted after the deadline but before adoption. The purpose of this extension was to expressly allow commenters additional time to comment if needed. Apparently, however, the SEC’s action was not enough for two Senators on the Senate Banking Committee, ranking member Sherrod Brown and Chris Van Hollen.
SEC posts proposal to harmonize private securities offering exemptions
As seems to be common practice these days, the SEC cancelled its open meeting scheduled for this morning and instead went ahead and posted its proposal to amend the rules to harmonize and simplify the framework for private securities offering exemptions. Here is the 341-page proposing release and the related press release. The proposal draws on input received in response to the SEC’s concept release issued in June of last year (see this PubCo post), which sought public comment on ways to promote capital formation, to harmonize and streamline the patchwork universe of private placement exemptions and “to expand investment opportunities while maintaining appropriate investor protections.” Currently, the framework has 10 different exemptions or safe harbors, with different sets of requirements. As SEC Chair Jay Clayton said in a 2018 speech, the current framework would not likely exist as it is if the SEC were starting with blank slate. The comment period will be open for 60 days.
Cooley Alert: SEC Proposes to Modernize MD&A and Other Financial Disclosures
Check out our new Cooley Alert: SEC Proposes to Modernize MD&A and Other Financial Disclosures. It’s a thrill from beginning to end and much more fun than watching the market these days.
Commissioner Roisman defends proxy proposals
The SEC’s recent proxy proposals—both the proposal related to proxy advisory firms (see this PubCo post) and the proposal related to Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals (see this PubCo post)—have been hit hard by the critics. Even the SEC’s own Investor Advisory Committee piled on, ultimately recommending that the SEC consider a do-over. (See this PubCo post.) To the defense comes SEC Commissioner Elad Roisman, who has been honchoing these proposals at the SEC.
SEC issues public statement on impact of coronavirus on financial reporting and audit quality
In a public statement issued today, SEC Chair Jay Clayton, Corp Fin Director Bill Hinman, SEC Chief Accountant Sagar Teotia and PCAOB Chairman William D. Duhnke III provided guidance regarding the impact of the coronavirus on financial reporting and audit quality, as well as the potential availability of regulatory relief. The statement arose out of the recent continuing dialogue between these officials and the senior leaders of the largest U.S. audit firms regarding difficulties in connection with conducting audits in emerging markets.
SEC debate on climate disclosure regulation gets heated
On Thursday, January 30, the SEC proposed amendments designed to simplify and modernize MD&A and the other financial disclosure requirements of Reg S-K. (See this PubCo post.) Although the SEC did not hold an open meeting to consider the proposal, several of the Commissioners issued statements that addressed, for the most part, not what was in the proposal, but rather, what wasn’t—standardized disclosure requirements related to climate change. These statements allow us a peek into an apparently heated debate among the Commissioners on the issue of climate disclosure.
In overwhelming bipartisan vote, House passes bill to address the 8-K trading gap
In 2015, an academic study, reported in the WSJ, showed that corporate insiders consistently beat the market in their companies’ shares in the four days preceding 8-K filings, the period that the researchers called the “8-K trading gap.” The study also showed that, when insiders engaged in open market purchases—relatively unusual transactions for insiders—during that trading gap, insiders “are correct about the directional impact of the 8-K filing more often than not—and that the probability that this finding is the product of random chance is virtually zero.” The WSJ article reported that, after reviewing the study, Representative Carolyn Maloney, D.N.Y., a member of the House Financial Services Committee, characterized the results as “troubling” and said she was preparing legislation to address the issue. Five years later, in January 2020, by a vote of 384 to 7, the House has passed HR 4335, the “8-K Trading Gap Act of 2019.” A substantially similar bill has been introduced in the Senate. Given the remarkably bipartisan vote in the House—and assuming that the legislation isn’t suddenly tinged with politics—the bill appears likely to pass in the Senate as well…sometime.
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