KMK Law Corporate & Securities Blog

Last Friday, the United States Supreme Court lifted a nationwide injunction originally issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (and later upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals) in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. McHenry. The Top Cop injunction had blocked enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”).

As we embark on the new year, it is time to consider what is next for the SEC—specifically, EDGAR Next. In September 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to Regulation S-T aimed at modernizing the agency’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. The new system—aptly named EDGAR Next—will feature improved access procedures and enhanced security measures, including two-factor authentication.

Today, the United States Supreme Court reinstated the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) and allowed its reporting obligations to go into effect pending a challenge to the law’s merits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

On December 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated their stay of the preliminary injunction in light of the expedited ruling expected on the merits of the preliminary injunction.

As previously reported, on December 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) and its reporting obligations. On December 23, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the preliminary injunction.

On December 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down Nasdaq’s board diversity rules, which were designed to increase representation of women and minorities on corporate boards. Since 2023, the rules have required Nasdaq-listed companies to have at least one woman, minority, or LGBTQ+ member on their boards and to report director diversity information each year.

As the January 1, 2025 reporting deadline for beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) quickly approaches, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (“Court”) issued a critical decision which has caused significant uncertainty.^[1] On December 3, 2024, the Court issued a preliminarily injunction, temporarily blocking enforcement of the CTA and its reporting rule nationwide. The Court specifically stated “reporting companies need not comply with the CTA’s January 1, 2025, [beneficial ownership information] reporting deadline pending further order of the Court.”

On October 22, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged four companies with making materially misleading disclosures about their cybersecurity risks. Each of the companies—Unisys Corp., Avaya Holdings Corp., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., and Mimecast Limited—agreed to pay hefty monetary penalties to settle the SEC’s charges.

The fines follow a lengthy investigation by the SEC into public companies affected by the 2020 SolarWinds breach, one of the most widespread cyberattacks to date. The attack, largely believed to have been carried out by ...

On July 8, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued additional FAQs relating to the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”). More specifically, FinCEN provided helpful guidance pertaining to the reporting requirements of companies created or registered on or after January 1, 2024 that later wind up their affairs and cease to exist before their initial beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) report is due to FinCEN.

The SEC released a statement from Division of Corporation Finance Director Erik Gerding on June 24, 2024 reflecting Gerding’s opening remarks and the matters discussed on a panel addressing the Division's Disclosure Review Program during the April 2024 SEC Speaks Conference in Washington, DC. The statement provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the Division and observations gleaned from the review of filings.