Sky Blog
On Feb. 27, 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) issued guidance that meme coins — defined as speculative crypto assets inspired by internet memes, cultural trends, or social media phenomena — do not constitute securities under federal securities …
With growing concern, we fear that we are watching the SEC face a death by 1,000 cuts. No, we do not mean that the SEC is likely to be abolished by either executive or legislative action (although the Department of …
The lead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) new Crypto Task Force (Task Force), Commissioner Hester Peirce, recently laid out principles for how the Task Force will approach regulation and provided a roadmap for specific issues the Task …
The Staff in the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued three new sets of guidance that may influence and potentially reshape how shareholders engage with companies going forward.
On …
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a general purpose technology (GPT) with the potential to transform industries. As a result, the potential benefits of AI give firms strong reasons to adopt it – but also provides opportunities to exaggerate their …
On February 10, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, to pause Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) actions for 180 days until she issues revised FCPA enforcement guidance to “prioritize American interests, …
Effective and well-designed laws governing investment and financial markets are the single most important foundation for financial markets to allocate capital efficiently while providing optimal reassurance to investors and lenders. Strong empirical evidence shows the United States has a lower …
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff recently updated its guidance on circumstances in which investors engaging with issuers on ESG and other matters can file a short-form Schedule 13G as a passive or institutional investor rather than a long-form …
On February 12, the Staff of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance published a new Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M(“SLB 14M”) regarding the exclusion of Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8(i)(5) (“economic significance”) and Rule 14a-8(i)(7) (“ordinary business”). …
With the change in SEC leadership, now is the perfect time for the commission to reevaluate its approach to chief compliance officer (“CCO”) liability. In a new article, I contend that the SEC’s current approach to CCO liability has …
The United States is ushering in a new era of crypto reforms. Only a few days ago, Mark Uyeda, the acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced the formation of the Crypto Task Force to be spearheaded …
On January 15, 2025, the SEC approved, on an accelerated basis, a proposed rule change to amend Section 802.01C of the NYSE’s Listed Company Manual (Manual) to restrict the use of reverse stock splits to regain compliance with NYSE …
In relevant developments in U.S. whistleblower programs over the past year, (1) the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) introduced a three-year pilot program that offers monetary awards for reports relating to certain specific types of corporate misconduct; (2) the annual reports …
In the hunt for wasteful and counterproductive regulatory programs, the SEC’s IPO review process makes for a promising target. In a new paper, I show how this IPO “comment letter” bureaucracy has outlived its original justification and call for …
On October 31, 2024, a Second Circuit panel amended its August 2023 decision in New England Carpenters Guaranteed Annuity & Pension Funds v. DeCarlo after granting a motion for rehearing1 and held that misstatements in an audit opinion may be
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
Since July 2023, the Commission has brought three cases against special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and/or SPAC sponsors, charging them with fraud because they made false and misleading statements regarding the details of their communications with potential target companies. I …
The most important question in whistleblowing is a straightforward one: Why does whistleblowing work? Modernized whistleblower award laws, such as the False Claims Act and Dodd-Frank Act, have had immense impacts on the detection and prosecution of white-collar crimes. …