Andrea M. Basham

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Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule under which any issuer can “test the waters” for a securities offering before or after filing a registration statement. This new rule extends an accommodation previously available only to emerging growth companies.

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued another in its series of rule proposals to revise the disclosure requirements applicable to reporting companies. Its August 8, 2019 proposal addresses simplification of three items in Regulation S-K that have not been revised for more than 30 years. We also provide a link in the attached…

On Friday, the SEC proposed extensive amendments to the rules governing financial disclosures by registrants about businesses they buy or sell.

The proposed amendments primarily relate to disclosures required by Rule 3-05 and Article 11 of Regulation S-X in registration statements and 1934 Act reports, and, for the most part, they would reduce the burden

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On March 20, 2019, the SEC adopted a collection of amendments to its rules and forms intended to modernize and simplify some of the disclosure requirements applicable to U.S. public companies. The amendments implement a statutory directive under the 2015 FAST Act. They span a number of topics, including MD&A, property, risk factors, confidential treatment…

The SEC recently approved a proposal by NYSE to amend NYSE Listed Company Manual Rule 202.06 to prohibit NYSE-listed companies from issuing material news after the NYSE close of trading until the earlier of the publication of the company’s official closing price on the NYSE or five minutes after the NYSE’s official closing time (which is 4:00PM ET) for the placement of orders.
Continue Reading NYSE Requires Companies to Delay Release of Material Information After Market Close

In 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU 2016-01, which adopts a new standard that will require companies to generally change the way they account for equity investments of less than 20%.
Continue Reading Accounting for Minority Equity Investments: A Small Change with Significant Implications

In December 2015, President Obama signed into law the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (the “FAST Act”), which, among other legislation in its 1300+ pages, includes several bills designed to facilitate the offer and sale of securities. We believe that not only will these new provisions facilitate offerings by so-called emerging growth companies (“EGCs,” a category of issuer established by the JOBS Act in 2012), but that the SEC, using its rulemaking authority, may and should expand some of these accommodations to a much broader set of issuers, offerings and forms. The impact of this proposed expansion would, inter alia, make these changes significant for WKSI issuers and the use of the SEC’s M&A forms.  We set forth the arguments for extension of the scope of these accommodations in the linked comment letter, which we authored last week on behalf of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) in response to the SEC’s FAST Act-related interim final rules and request for comment dated January 19, 2016.
Continue Reading Cleary Gottlieb and SIFMA Push for Broader Based Reform by SEC of Offering Process and Disclosure

On September 28, 2015, NYSE amendments to Section 202.06 of its Listed Company Manual will take effect. The Section governs the circumstances under which companies must notify the NYSE at least ten minutes before disseminating material news and gives the NYSE authority to halt trading in a listed company’s securities. The amendments require listed companies to now notify the NYSE of material news beginning at 7:00 am (instead of only during market hours) and give the NYSE additional discretion to impose trading halts.
Continue Reading Amendments to NYSE Material News and Trading Halt Policies