The Delaware Supreme Court recently affirmed the Court of Chancery’s 2020 decision in AB Stable VIII LLC v. MAPS Hotels & Resorts One LLC, which blessed a buyer’s termination of a merger agreement on grounds that the target breached its covenant to operate its business in the ordinary course between signing and closing.  In this closely watched appeal, the Delaware Supreme Court held that the ordinary course covenant in this case was breached because of the unprecedented steps the target hotel company took in response to COVID-19, even though the court found those steps to have been reasonable and consistent with the actions of others in the same industry.  This decision provides important guidance both in terms of how such covenants should be drafted but also how to deal with unprecedented crises between signing and closing.[1] Continue Reading The Delaware Supreme Court Speaks on “Ordinary Course” Covenants

Last week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) of the Department of the Treasury announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to implement the beneficial ownership reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.  This legislation requires a range of U.S. legal entities, and non-U.S. legal entities registered to do business in the United States, to report information on their underlying beneficial owners to FinCEN.

The NPRM addresses and interprets four key aspects of the CTA: who must report, when they must report, what information they must report, and what penalties apply for violations of reporting requirements. Companies should review the CTA and the NPRM, including the definition of “reporting company” and the related exemptions, to determine whether it will impose reporting requirements on them. Parties may submit written comments to FinCEN about the NPRM until February 7, 2022.

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Cleary Antitrust Watch, our new blog that provides updates and insights on global legal developments related to abuse, cartels, mergers & acquisitions, policy & procedure, private enforcement, State aid & subsidies, vertical agreements, and more.

We hope that you find the posts informative and will continue to follow developments in the antitrust sector by subscribing.

On November 17, the SEC proposed new rule amendments that would eliminate the core of the new requirements it imposed on proxy advisory firms in July 2020. The SEC had previously announced it would not enforce these requirements, so the process between proxy advisory firms and subject companies will be largely unregulated, much as it was before the 2020 rules.

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.

The EU merger control regime imposes strict limitations on the interactions between parties pending merger clearance, to ensure there is no premature implementation of the transaction.  Recent court decision has far-reaching consequences on drafting and negotiation of customary “interim covenants” in M&A agreements.

This alert memo discusses the principles established by the EU General Court in its important judgment (Case T-425/18 Altice v Commission), and provides practical guidance for dealmakers.

The UK Government has recently announced that it will introduce mandatory climate-related financial reporting for the first time.[1]

The new rules are likely to have particular implications for UK public companies listed outside the UK (particularly on the NYSE or NASDAQ) or on AIM, large UK subsidiaries of multinational corporate groups and large portfolio companies of financial sponsors that have a UK topco structure, where the new rules may require them to grapple with climate-related financial reporting for the first time. Continue Reading UK Introduces Mandatory Climate-Related Financial Reporting for Large Public and Private Companies

On November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to permanently amend provisions of the NY Business Corporation Law to allow companies to use electronic means to document action by written consent by boards and to hold virtual shareholder meetings, unless such action is prohibited by the entity’s articles of organization or by-laws. As discussed in our prior post, Governor Cuomo issued two Executive Orders: the first, March 7 Executive Order No. 202, declared a disaster emergency and ceased operations of all non-essential businesses in New York state; and the second, March 20th Executive Order No. 202.8, temporarily suspended several regulations governing meetings at New York corporations. Absent this relief, New York state still required an in-person shareholder meeting be held, although following an October 2019 rule change, it also permitted a virtual component (subject to certain conditions). Continue Reading Virtual Shareholder Meetings now Permanently Permitted in NY

On November 3, 2021, the Division of Corporation Finance of the SEC (the “Staff”) issued Staff Legal Bulletin (“SLB”) No. 14L, which rescinds SLBs Nos. 14I, 14J and 14K, all of which provided guidance with respect to no-action letter requests that sought relief from the Staff to exclude shareholder proposals on the basis of Rule 14a-8(i)(7) and Rule 14a-8(i)(5).  SLB No. 14L also provides guidance on (i) certain technical exclusions, (ii) the use of graphics and images in proposals and (iii) the use of email between proponents and companies. Continue Reading SEC Provides New Guidance on Shareholder Proposals – Likely To Limit Companies’ Ability To Exclude Environmental and Social Proposals

On October 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) clarifying whether investments made by fiduciaries of plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) may take into account environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) concerns in selecting investments and investment courses of action, as well as fiduciary duties in exercising shareholder rights.[1]  The Proposed Rule aligns more closely with recent trends toward ESG-oriented investing and seeks to reduce any chilling effects introduced by the Trump administration’s regulatory and non-regulatory guidance on fiduciary duty-compliant ESG investing. Continue Reading New DOL Proposal on ESG Investing and Fiduciary Exercise of Shareholder Rights