The Securities and Exchange Commission has provided fresh guidance for companies that use social media to communicate with current and potential investors. One of two new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations from the Division of Corporate Finance addresses the use of required legends and disclosures that accompany traditional, paper-based communications and how they should be handled […]
Joe Mont
Posted inUncategorized
Conflicts Minerals Ruling Doesn’t Mean Companies Are Off the Hook
The timing of a recent court decision rejecting part of an SEC rule on conflict minerals disclosures could not have been worse. Many companies were already straining to meet the June 2 deadline, and now the court ruling has added another layer of confusion and uncertainty. Will regulators give companies an extension as they sort […]
Posted inUncategorized
Rethinking the Role of Free Speech in Corporate Disclosure
Don’t expect the Securities and Exchange Commission to start cutting back on the reporting it requires from public companies, but legal experts are debating whether a recent court decision could mean several of its disclosure requirements—including current regulations and those under consideration—are unconstitutional. The debate stems from a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
GAO Scolds SEC for Ongoing Cyber-Security Deficiencies
The message is increasingly common: “Information security is a critical consideration.” But this time the cyber-security warning wasn’t handed down by a regulator – it was the Securities and Exchange Commission being scolded for its own security gaps and lapses. Without proper safeguards, including those required by the Federal Information Security Management Act and National […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Business Groups Petition SEC for Tougher Proxy Rules
A coalition of business groups is petitioning the Securities and Exchange Commission to increase the percentage of favorable votes that are required before a company is obligated to include proposals shareholders previously rejected in their proxy materials. Signing onto the Petition for Rulemaking are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Corporate Directors, National […]
Posted inUncategorized
Court Decision Won’t be Final Word on Conflict Minerals
If you were waiting for legal clarity on the demands of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s conflict minerals rule to come from the courts, a ruling issued this week didn’t help much. For all involved, it was “win some, lose some.” While a federal appeals court upheld several key elements of the rulemaking, required by […]
Posted inUncategorized
Extraction Payment Disclosure Moves Forward, Despite Delays
Some companies aren’t waiting around for the Securities and Exchange Commission to write new rules to require oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose payments they make to governments for extraction rights. They are moving ahead with voluntary reports on the expenditures. While a legal challenge has successfully delayed a Dodd-Frank Act requirement to report […]
Posted inUncategorized
High-Speed Trading Under Siege
Speed has always been important—and controversial—on Wall Street. In the 1980s, for example, traditionalists lamented the new faces and new footwear that began to appear on trading floors of stock exchanges. “They fired the old guys and got younger guys, who wore Nikes instead of wingtips,” says Bernard Donefer, associate director of the Subotnick Financial […]
Posted inUncategorized
Court Says Conflict Minerals Disclosures Violate First Amendment
On Monday, a Washington D.C. courthouse on Monday threw a late-in-the-game curve-ball for companies preparing to issue their first conflict minerals disclosures and reports by May 31. In a ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Senior Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph ruled that the National Association of Manufacturers […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Group Touts Plan to Consolidate Bank Regulators into Single Overseer
An idea left on the cutting room floor of the Dodd-Frank Act was a plan to consolidate the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission into a single regulator. Abandoned as too controversial, it seems a modest proposal compared to the sweeping regulatory changes suggested by a Washington think tank. In a new […]
