Sky Blog
A recent decision issued by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Harrington v. Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc., highlights the value of established trading plans in defending against securities fraud allegations.[1] These trading plans, which are …
On October 26, 2015, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) issued key proposed changes to its policies, inviting all interested parties to provide comment.[1] ISS will accept comments through November 9, 2015 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. If adopted, ISS’s …
Effective September 28, 2015, the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE” or “the Exchange”) amended Section 202.06 of its Listed Company Manual (the “Manual”) to:
On June 5, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered into settled administrative cease-and-desist proceedings with Computer Sciences Corporation (“CSC”) and some of its former executives due to the company’s alleged manipulation of financial results and concealment of problems …
A recent Delaware Chancery Court decision confirms that, as the court held three years ago in Seinfeld v. Slager, there is no shareholder ratification defense for self-awarded director compensation granted under a stockholder-approved option or bonus plan that lacks …
On April 28, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it awarded the maximum allowable award to a whistleblower under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program in its first case involving alleged retaliation by an employer against an employee who …
On February 10, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed settled administrative cease-and-desist proceedings against two former chief financial officers (“CFOs”) of Saba Software, Inc. for their failure to reimburse the company for the stock-sale profits and bonuses they …
Many public companies continue to consider their options in responding to proxy access shareholder proposals following the Division of Corporate Finance’s unusual announcement that it will not opine on “the application of Rule 14a-8(i)(9) during the current proxy season.”[1]…
On July 30, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged the CEO and former CFO of QSGI, Inc., a computer equipment company, with misrepresenting to the company’s outside auditors and investors the condition of the company’s internal controls over …
The Supreme Court recently concluded that the ERISA fiduciaries of an employee stock ownership plan (an “ESOP”) are not entitled to a presumption that they acted prudently in connection with the ESOP’s investment in employer stock.[1] While the …
On June 10, 2014, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) adopted a new auditing standard, as well as amendments to its existing auditing standards, designed “to strengthen auditor performance requirements in three critical areas that historically have represented increased …
On May 6, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held, in a case of first impression, that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank precludes claims brought under the Securities …
On April 8, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged CVS Caremark Corp. (“CVS”) with violating the federal securities laws by failing to accurately disclose significant financial setbacks and overstating its financial performance through improper accounting.[1] CVS, which has …