KMK Law Corporate & Securities Blog

On April 14, 2014 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) controversial new “Conflict Minerals Rules” requiring publicly-traded companies to disclose whether their products contain certain minerals from certain central African countries. Despite this decision, until further notice public companies should continue to carry out efforts to comply with the SEC’s rules. 

In January 2013, the SEC approved the new listing standards proposed by NASDAQ for independent compensation committees and compensation consultants, legal counsel and other advisors. In November 2013, NASDAQ amended those listing standards and required companies to certify their company’s compliance with, or exemption from, these amended compensation committee listing rules. In January 2014, NASDAQ released the certification form. The certification must be provided to NASDAQ no later than 30 calendar days after the company’s first annual shareholder’s meeting occurring after January 15, 2014, or October 31, 2014, whichever is earlier. 

In January 2013, the SEC approved the new listing standards proposed by Nasdaq for independent compensation committees and compensation consultants, legal counsel and other advisors. These new listing standards, adopted as required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and new SEC Rule 10C-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, are designed to promote the independence of compensation committee members, consultants and advisors. 

On Wednesday October 23, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to propose regulations for equity crowdfunding, which will enable unaccredited U.S. investors to invest in startups and small businesses. 

In light of the federal government undergoing a lapse in appropriations effective October 1, 2013, referred to in the news media as the “government shutdown,” it is important to understand which operations of the SEC will continue and which will be discontinued until the shutdown ends. 

On September 18, 2013, the SEC issued its long-awaited, and much debated, proposed rules regarding CEO pay ratio disclosures, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act enacted in July 2010. 

At an open meeting on July 10, 2013 the SEC approved changes to certain rules regulating private offerings of securities that permit issuers to use general solicitation and general advertising. Specifically, under the new rules for Rule 506 of Regulation D, the most widely-used exemption from registration, issuers may use general solicitation and general advertising to offer their securities provided that: 

With the 2013 annual meeting season well underway, we want to remind you of compliance deadlines, new and proposed listing rules, developments in recommendations of proxy advisory firms and other securities regulation and corporate governance matters.

The SEC recently approved new proposed listing standards for both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) regarding criteria for compensation committee member independence and compensation consultant independence.

Both the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) and the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) recently proposed new rules to conform to the SEC’s recently established requirements regarding independence standards for compensation committee members and advisers.