In the following guest post, Anne Catapano, VP Financial Lines Claims, Ascot Insurance Company, Christina Errico, VP, Professional Liability Claims Manager, Ascot Insurance Company, Elan Kandel, Member, Bailey Cavalieri LLC, James Talbert, Associate, Bailey Cavalieri LLC and Tyler Hopkins, Associate, Bailey Cavalieri LLC, review the past year’s key management and professional liability insurance coverage decisions. I would like to thank the authors for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors’ article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Year in Review: 2023 Key Management and Professional Liability Insurance Coverage Decisions
You Aren’t Just Imaging Things: The Current SEC Really is More Active
If you have had the sense that under the current administration the SEC is more active and more aggressive, two reports issued this past week will confirm that your sense is correct. First, on November 15, 2022, the SEC’s Enforcement Division issued its Enforcement Results Report for FY 2022 (ended September 30, 2022), showing that during the fiscal year money ordered in SEC enforcement actions totaled $6.439 billion, the most on record in SEC history. Second, on November 16, 2022, Cornerstone Research, in conjunction with the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business, issued its report on SEC Public Company-related enforcement activity during FY 2022, which shows that the agency’s actions against public companies increased relative to prior fiscal years and that the agency’s $2.8 billion in aggregate total monetary settlements with public companies was the highest in any fiscal year.
Continue Reading You Aren’t Just Imaging Things: The Current SEC Really is More Active
Guest Post: Corporate Governance Tales From (Virtual) Open Door Encounters – Part 3
After many decades of law practice, legal veteran Richard M. Leisner, a Senior Member in the Trenam law firm in Tampa, found that increasingly he has been called upon to be a sounding board and resource on proposed corporate transactions. In the following guest post, which is the third installment in a three-part series, Richie recounts a number of “open door encounters” – that is, occasions when colleagues came to his office to discuss pending matters. There are a number of important lessons from the tales described below. A version of this article previously was published in Trenam Law News & Insights, available at www.trenam.com. I would like to thank Richie for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Richie’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Corporate Governance Tales From (Virtual) Open Door Encounters – Part 3
Guest Post: Corporate Governance Tales from (Virtual) Open Door Encounters – Part 2
After many decades of law practice, legal veteran Richard M. Leisner, a Senior Member in the Trenam law firm in Tampa, found that increasingly he has been called upon to be a sounding board and resource on proposed corporate transactions. In the following guest post, which is the second installment in a three-part series, Richie recounts a number of “open door encounters” – that is, occasions when colleagues came to his office to discuss pending matters. There are a number of important lessons from the tales described below. A version of this article previously was published in Trenam Law News & Insights, available at www.trenam.com. I would like to thank Richie for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Richie’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Corporate Governance Tales from (Virtual) Open Door Encounters – Part 2
Securities Class Action Reform Discussed at Washington Event
Because the lawsuits are so expensive to litigate and to resolve, securities class action litigation has long been the subject of both scrutiny and criticism. However, while the history of concern about securities litigation is long, the case can be made that there has rarely been a time when securities litigation in the U.S. deserves a critical look more than it does now. As has been well-documented on this site and elsewhere, securities class action lawsuit filing activity has been a record levels for the past two years. Signs are so far this year that these heightened levels of activity, which can only be described as alarming, are continuing. Given these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that business groups and others are now raising calls for another round of securities class action litigation reform.
Continue Reading Securities Class Action Reform Discussed at Washington Event
Guest Post: SEC Enforcement Still Strong Under Trump – What’s Next?
In the following guest post, Britt K. Latham and Brian Irving of the Bass, Berry & Sims PLC law firm take a look at the SEC’s enforcement action track record under the Trump administration and take a look ahead at what may be next for the agency. I would like to thank Britt and Brian for their willingness to allow me to publish their article as a guest post. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Britt and Brian’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: SEC Enforcement Still Strong Under Trump – What’s Next?
Sharpening the Focus on Regulation A+ Offerings
Earlier this year, the SEC rules adopted rules amending Regulation A under the Securities Act to provide companies with an intermediate path between, on the one hand, exempt offerings to qualified investors only, and, on the other hand, a full-blown initial public offering of registered securities. Since the amended rules, known as Regulation A+, took effect, a number of companies have initiated offerings taking advantage of the new rules. Perhaps because of unfamiliarity, many D&O insurance underwriters have reacted very cautiously with regard to these new Reg. A+ offerings. The purpose of this post is to briefly review the background regarding these new offerings and to provide links to relevant resources, in the hope of addressing some of the D&O underwriters’ concerns.
Continue Reading Sharpening the Focus on Regulation A+ Offerings
Guest Post: Supreme Court Declines To Consider Second Circuit’s Landmark Insider Trading Ruling
The U.S. government’s petition for writ of certiorari in the case of United States v. Newman had been very closely watched. The government hoped to have the Supreme Court set aside the Second Circuit’s 2014 decision in the case (here), which had overturned the convictions of two hedge fund managers accused of insider trading. In an unexpected development, on the first day of the Supreme Court’s 2015-16 term, the Court declined take up the case.
The following guest post from the Paul Weiss law firm takes a look at this development and analyzes the implications. I would like to that the authors for their willingness to publish their article on this blog. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the Paul Weiss firm’s guest post.
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Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the petition for a writ of certiorari (the “Petition”) filed by the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in United States v. Newman, 773 F.3d 438 (2d Cir. 2014), a landmark decision that dismissed indictments against two insider trading defendants. By declining to hear the Petition, the Supreme Court ensured that the Second Circuit’s decision in Newman will remain binding in the Second Circuit and influential across the country.
As we explain below, two of Newman’s holdings are particularly important: first, that the government must prove that a remote tippee knew or should have known of the personal benefit received by a tipper in exchange for disclosing nonpublic information; and second, that the benefits alleged by the government in United States v. Newman were not sufficient to support a conviction, as they were not sufficiently “consequential.”
Continue Reading Guest Post: Supreme Court Declines To Consider Second Circuit’s Landmark Insider Trading Ruling
SEC Commissioner Gallagher at the Stanford Law School Directors’ College
The D&O Diary was in Palo Alto, California this week for the annual Directors’ College at the Stanford Law School (depicted to the left). The keynote speaker on Tuesday morning was SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher, who recently announced that he will be stepping down from the Commission when his successor has been confirmed.
Legislative Reform for the Securities Laws Before the 2010 Elections?
Over the years, legislative reforms of the U.S. securities laws have cycled back and forth, between initiatives, on the one hand, to discourage abusive litigation and, on the other hand, to restrain corporate misconduct. In the current Wall Street bailout, post-Madoff environment, sentiment may be running high for legislative reforms that could expand liabilities under