Sky Blog
Contrary to the popular narrative, leading firms, supported by overwhelming shareholder majorities, have maintained their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The reason is simple—inclusive practices improve corporate governance.
Literature from finance, management, sociology, and psychology illustrates that both …
On April 10, 2026, and consistent with its previous approval of similar proposals by other national exchanges (24X and NYSE Arca), the SEC approved the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) proposal to extend its trading hours for NMS stocks and exchange-traded …
On September 15, 2025, Elon Musk filed a disclosure with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicating that he had acquired approximately 2.57 million shares of Tesla Inc. in open-market transactions on September 12, at a cost of nearly …
Controlled companies – public firms where an individual, group, or another company holds majority voting power – make up a significant and growing share of the U.S. public market, accounting for over $2.2 trillion in 2019 alone. Despite their scale, …
In this article, we reflect on key trends in ESG over the second half of 2024 and look ahead at trends that may emerge in 2025.
We …
Securities law often relies on stock exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to create rules that structure markets. The SEC reviews and must approve these rules if the agency finds they meet certain statutory requirements. SROs file over a thousand
On December 11, 2024, in a 9-8 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that in approving the Nasdaq Stock Market’s (Nasdaq) board diversity rules (the Rules), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had …
In 2020, the Nasdaq stock market filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking permission to adopt a board diversity-related disclosure requirement for its listed companies. In 2021, the SEC approved the proposal, making Nasdaq the most …
Since the 1990s, regulatory reforms worldwide have significantly increased the independence of corporate boards. By 2023, nearly all of the top 50 equity markets had implemented minimum requirements for board or board committee independence. While extensive literature highlights the benefits …
Over the past couple of decades, we’ve witnessed enormous progress on LGBTQ+ issues. As a result, the closet remains largely off people’s radar – but for the generation of those who occupy corporate leadership positions, it’s very much a live …
Each subsidiary issuing or guaranteeing a public company’s listed debt securities is itself subject to the clawback rules recently adopted by the NYSE and Nasdaq.
In October 2022, the SEC adopted the final clawback rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act …
On October 18, 2023, the Fifth Circuit, in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, upheld Nasdaq’s board diversity rule. [1]
The rule, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2021, requires Nasdaq-listed companies to disclose board-level …
Financial globalization has allowed issuers more freedom to shop among jurisdictions and thus intensified stock market competition. Against this backdrop, the Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and UK stock markets have accepted the dual-class share structure (DCSS). While empirical legal studies …
A ground-breaking study provides new data about diversity on the boards of directors of 3,031 companies (representing 2,503 U.S. and 528 foreign firms) listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
The demographic information in the study is based on voluntary self-identification …
The SEC has approved the clawback listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. As noted previously, the clawback listing standards will take effect on October 2, 2023, and listed companies will have until December 1, 2023 to …
A public company’s certificate of incorporation generally grants the board of directors authority to issue “blank check” preferred stock up to the number authorized in the certificate of incorporation, on terms to be determined by the board. Recently, a number …
On February 22, 2023, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market released their respective versions of a proposed rule that implements the SEC’s clawback rule mandated by Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The SEC’s final rule, …
On November 17, 2022, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a special alert to FINRA members concerning the heightened threat of fraud in small capitalization initial public offerings (“IPOs”). At the same time, both the New York Stock Exchange …
The recent pushback by conservative legal groups against equality and diversity on corporate boards has accelerated to new levels in the past few months. The latest example is a challenge to Nasdaq’s board diversity rule, which was approved in August …
Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August 2021, is the subject of an ongoing, high stakes court battle in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The attorneys general of …