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Paul Weiss Discusses Second Circuit Ruling on Intent Element of a SOX Whistleblower Claim

By Geoffrey R. Chepiga, Andrew J. Ehrlich, Lorin L. Reisner, Audra J. Soloway and Daniel S. Sinnreich August 19, 2022 by renholding

On August 5, 2022, the Second Circuit held that individuals claiming they were terminated in retaliation for protected whistleblower activities under Sarbanes-Oxley must prove that their employer acted with retaliatory intent. Murray v. UBS Securities LLC, No. 20-4202 (2d …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses CFPB’s Focus on Tech Companies and Personal Finance Data

By Jared Fishman, Anthony Lewis, Rebecca Simmons, Stephen Meyer and Jennifer Sutton August 18, 2022 by renholding

Last week, the CFPB took three actions demonstrating the agency’s continued focus on technology companies and personal financial data protection.  First, the CFPB issued an interpretive rule explaining the CFPB’s view that many digital marketing providers may be “service providers” …

Revisiting the Audit Expectations Gap

By Wendy Heltzer and Mary Mindak July 25, 2022 by renholding

As the regulation of public company audits evolves, questions persist over whether there is still a gap between the public and auditors over expectations for the responsibilities of auditors – what we call the expectations gap. In a recent study, …

Debevoise Discusses What the ADPPA Means for U.S. Data Regulation

By Paul D. Rubin, Avi Gesser, Johanna N. Skrzypczyk, Michael R. Roberts and Alessandra G. Masciandaro July 15, 2022 by renholding

On June 21, 2022, the House Energy and Commerce Committee formally introduced a new federal privacy bill: the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (“ADPPA”). Notably, the ADPPA has diverse support from both branches of Congress and both political parties. …

The Pros and Cons of Disclosing News in Distressed Organizations

By Hrishikesh Desai and Daniel Schaupp July 1, 2022 by renholding

Regulation affecting managers’ disclosure of news in U.S. organizations has been affected by three main changes over the past three decades: (a) The Private Securities Litigation Reform (PSLR) Act, 1995, which protected managers from litigation arising from the disclosure of …

Assistant AG for National Security Speaks on Cybersecurity

By Matthew G. Olsen June 3, 2022 by renholding

Good afternoon. I’m Matt Olsen and I am the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the United States Department of Justice.

I’m very pleased to be here at CyCon. Thank you to Lucas for moderating this panel, to my

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Business Risks Stemming from Socio-Economic Inequality

By Todd Cort, Stephen Park and Decio Nascimento April 15, 2022 by renholding

Socio-economic inequality has risen over the last 40 years in almost every part of the world and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Inequality does not only affect societies – it can also have a significant impact on the …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks on Removal of Credit-Ratings References from Reg M

By Gary Gensler March 25, 2022 by renholding

Today [March 24], the Commission voted to propose removing references of credit ratings from Rules 101 and 102 of Regulation M (Reg M). I was pleased to support today’s proposal because, if adopted, it would fulfill a mandate issued by

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Debevoise Discusses New Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure

By Luke Dembosky, Avi Gesser, HJ Brehmer and Stephanie Thomas March 23, 2022 by renholding

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (the “Act”) into law, requiring critical infrastructure entities to report covered cybersecurity incidents to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) within 72 …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses End of Mandatory Arbitration for Sexual Misconduct Cases

By Jennifer Kennedy Park and Ye Eun Charlotte Chun March 14, 2022 by renholding

On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act[1] into law.  The law amends the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) to prohibit the use of mandatory arbitration provisions to resolve sexual …

The Most Dangerous Branch: Is the Supreme Court Dismantling the Administrative State?

By John C. Coffee, Jr. March 7, 2022 by renholding

At first glance, the question posed above may sound slightly paranoid. Still, sometimes a measure of paranoia may be justified. In any event, this column is less a prediction of the future than a review of what is actually happening, …

Toward a “Tender Offer” Market for Labor Representation

By Aneil Kovvali and Jonathan R. Macey February 23, 2022 by renholding

For decades, corporate America has succeeded in delivering ever higher profits for shareholders by squeezing workers.  Whether the basic driver is labor monopsony, or a lack of worker power to capture economic profits at corporations, or increasingly ruthless business and …

High-Yield Debt Covenants and Their Real Effects

By Falk Bräuning, Victoria Ivashina and Ali K. Ozdagli January 20, 2022 by renholding

The U.S. leveraged (high-yield) loan market has more than doubled since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), with nearly $1.2 trillion in outstanding debt in 2019 (Leveraged Commentary and Analysis, LCD). The rise in high-yield corporate debt (bonds included) in the …

Essential Businesses and Shareholder Value

By Aneil Kovvali January 14, 2022 by renholding

The COVID-19 crisis vividly demonstrated that Americans rely on certain for-profit corporations to supply the essentials of everyday life. Even in a crisis situation in which the government had assumed an extraordinary role and extraordinary responsibilities, it was deemed necessary …

Does SEC Scrutiny Improve Mutual Fund Disclosures?

By Kai Du and Shuyang Wang January 5, 2022 by renholding

Millions of investors rely on the disclosures of U.S. registered mutual funds in making their investment decisions, but some of the most influential industry opinion leaders and legal scholars have criticized the quality of those disclosures. Like public companies, mutual …

Does the First Sale Doctrine Apply to NFTs?

By Desiree Moshayedi January 5, 2022 by renholding

An NFT is a non-fungible token that represents a particular copy of digital work.[1] It is a digital certificate of ownership that is secured on the blockchain, effectively creating a traceable record of every time the NFT changes hands.…

Happy Holidays

By Reynolds Holding December 24, 2021 by renholding

The Blue Sky Blog will be quiet for the next week but back, better than ever and with new features, for the New Year. Happy Holidays.…

Agreement Reached on International Carbon Credit Trading Rules at COP26

By Rebecca J. Simmons, David J. Gilberg, Aaron M. Levine and Elianne Neuman Schiff December 20, 2021 by benzonenshayn

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as “COP26”, was held in Glasgow, Scotland last month.  Among other agreements coming out of COP26, government ministers representing nearly 200 countries reached a consensus regarding rules implementing Article 6 …

The Impact of Retail Investors on Stock Liquidity and Crash Risk

By Felix Hüfner and Jan-Oliver Strych December 10, 2021 by renholding

The influence of retail investors on the stock market is controversial among experts. Some studies conclude that retail investors are uninformed, overconfident investors who assess risk poorly and thus destabilize the financial markets (e.g., Grinblatt and Keloharju, 2009; Barber and …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses Proposed Cybersecurity Legislation

By Luke Dembosky, Avi Gesser, HJ Brehmer and Stephanie Thomas November 29, 2021 by renholding

On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, authorizing $1.2 trillion for infrastructure spending, including approximately $2 billion for various federal cybersecurity projects. This adds to a large number of cybersecurity bills that …