Skip to main content
Insights
Inflation Reduction Act
SEC Releases New Guidance on Shareholder Proposals
On November 1, 2017, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission published in Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I guidance relating to the excludability of certain shareholder proposals from public company proxy statements under...
Barclays Market Manipulation Case Settles for $105 Million, What We Learned and What’s Next?
After more than four years of litigation in federal district court, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) yesterday issued an order approving a $105 million settlement resolving allegations that Barclays Bank PLC and certain of its traders...
SEC Approves PCAOB's New Rules on Auditor Reports
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) proposed Auditing Standard 3101, The Auditor’s Report on an Audit of Financial Statements When the Auditor Expresses An Unqualified Opinion (AS 3101) and related amendments to...
The CAM – A New Challenge
On October 23, 2017 the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued its Release No. 34‐81916; File No. PCAOB‐2017‐01 in which the SEC approved, without change, the new auditing standard adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”)...
VAT In the UAE - What Your Business Needs to Do
The UAE will introduce value added tax (“ VAT ”) at the rate of 5% from 1 January 2018. The basic principle underpinning the introduction of VAT is to further improve the economic base of the UAE. This is a...
Will Supreme Court Find Constitutional Problems With ALJs?
Recent federal circuit court of appeals decisions have cast doubt on the constitutionality of the use of administrative law judges (ALJs) in adjudicative proceedings. ALJs are widely used to adjudicate disputes and enforcement actions in regulated industries, including in administrative...
The CFTC Wants You To Turn Yourself In
On September 25, 2017, James McDonald, Director of the Division of Enforcement (“Division”) at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) gave a speech at New York University in which he discussed the mission of the Division of Enforcement...
SEC Adopts Interpretive Guidance on Pay Ratio Rule
On September 21, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it approved interpretive guidance to assist registrants in their efforts to comply with the pay ratio disclosure requirement in Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K. The guidance is timely as...
Go West? What the NYSE Has to Offer for Gulf IPOs
Saudi Aramco’s planned IPO has put the region’s companies in sharp focus for global investors. As GCC nations continue to experience shifts in economic activity, including less government spending, more companies (both state and privately owned) are looking to IPOs...
Can Foreign Partners Now Exit Partnerships Tax Free?
In Grecian Magnesite Mining v. Commissioner 1 (“ Grecian Magnesite ”) the Tax Court held that a non-U.S. partner's gain from the redemption of its partnership interest was neither U.S. source income nor income effectively connected with a U.S. trade...
SEC Expands Confidential Submission Process to All IPOs
The Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will permit all companies to submit draft registration statements relating to initial public offerings (IPOs) for review on a non-public basis, broadening the...
U.S. Supreme Court: Disgorgement Subject to Five-Year Statute of Limitations
The United States Supreme Court this week unanimously held that the five-year statute of limitations established in 28 U.S.C. §2462 applies to disgorgement in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement proceedings. The Court in Charles Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange...
SEC Will Not Enforce Part of the Conflict Minerals Disclosure Rule
On Friday, April 7, 2017, the acting Chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) Michael Piwowar released a statement that the Commission will not recommend enforcement of certain parts of its Conflict Minerals disclosure rule (Securities Exchange Act...
Frequently Asked Questions About the SEC's New Rules Requiring Hyperlinked Exhibits in Exchange Act and Securities Act Filings
On March 1, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted changes to rules and forms that will require companies to provide hyperlinks to the exhibits listed in the exhibit index in most reports and registration statements filed under the Securities...
President Signs Repeal of the SEC's Extraction Payment Disclosure Rule
Further to our February 2, 2017