The SEC has issued a final rule repealing former Section 21A(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, pursuant to which the SEC had been empowered to make monetary awards to persons that provided information relating to insider trading violations where investigations into such violations led to the collection of... Read More
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment regarding the appropriate regulatory treatment of agricultural swaps. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act provides that swaps in an “agricultural commodity” (as defined by the Commission) are prohibited unless entered into... Read More
This SEC revised Regulation FD to implement Section 939B of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which requires that the SEC amend Regulation FD to remove the specific exemption from the rule for disclosures made to nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and credit rating agencies... Read More
Section 957 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) adopted new Section 6(b)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act. This new provision requires all national securities exchanges to adopt rules that prohibit their members from voting on the election of a member of the board... Read More
One of the more controversial provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act allows information gathered by the SEC in its examination and investigation of those entities it regulates to not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. It also appears to be the first piece of the Dodd-Frank Act... Read More
The SEC has issued interpretive guidance regarding the meaning of the term “generally accepted auditing standards” (“GAAS”) after adoption of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 982 of the Dodd-Frank Act amended the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to authorize the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), among other things, to establish, subject... Read More
SEC Chair Mary Schapiro gave her thoughts on some of the implications of the Dodd-Frank Act for security based swaps in remarks given to the Security Traders Association. Ms. Schapiro noted “Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act provides a comprehensive framework for the regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market. It... Read More
Back on September 10, 2010, we summarized new Exchange Act Rule 14a-11 relating to shareholder proxy access. Last week, in a panel discussion organized by the Practising Law Institute, several commentators predicted that the new rule will have a limited impact because of low shareholder utilization, for a number of... Read More
Filings by public companies continue to include references to Rule 14a-11, which permits shareholders to nominate a director and include the nomination in the registrant’s proxy statement. In the last several days we have noted the following: LAM Research Proxy (filed September 13, 2010) Proposals Submitted under SEC Rules. Stockholder-initiated... Read More
The SEC has released its planned rulemaking schedule through July 2011. As was expected, the agency is going to be busy adopting numerous new regulations and amending existing regulations in order to implement the various provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. In most cases, the SEC intends to have adopted rules... Read More