Alexander Hopkins

One of the most important developments in the business, economic and financial arenas has been the recent emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The advent of the AI era has also presented novel legal issues and has presented regulators with a host of potential challenges. In the following guest post, Alexander Hopkins takes a look at the developing efforts of a variety of governmental regulators to address the issues that AI presents, and considers the implications of these regulatory developments for the liabilities of corporate directors and officers. Alex is Of Counsel at the Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. law firm. I would like to thank Alex for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site.Continue Reading Guest Post: Global AI Regulations: D&O Liability Implications in a Changing Legal Landscape

It is already well understood that there has been a change in direction at the SEC under the current Trump Administration and SEC Chair Paul Atkins. In a speech earlier this week at the New York Stock Exchange entitled “Revitalizing America’s Markets at 250,” Atkins described the ways in which he thought the agency in recent times has lost its direction, particularly with respect to its public company disclosure requirements. With the stated aim of restoring its original mission, Atkins identified two main public company disclosure reform goals for the agency. He also set out “three pillars” to “make IPOs great again.” Atkins’s IPO-related remarks include brief but noteworthy comments about securities class action litigation reform that have largely been overlooked in the press coverage of his speech.Continue Reading SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Public Company Disclosure Reform

In the 2025 fiscal year (ended September 30, 2025), the SEC’s enforcement activity, as measured by the number of stand-alone enforcement actions, was at its lowest level in ten years. While the decline was reflected across many categories of SEC enforcement, there were certain specific areas – such as cases involving insider trading and market manipulation – where SEC activity actually increased. And notwithstanding the overall decline in SEC enforcement activity, there are signs to suggest that foreign companies listed on U.S. exchanges should be prepared heightened SEC scrutiny and enforcement activity, as discussed below.Continue Reading SEC Enforcement Actions Decline, But Foreign Cos. Should Remain Vigilant

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the legal case in which the claimants are challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s tariffs. While we await the Court’s decision in the case, the tariffs remain in place, with consequences both for the global economy and for individual businesses. In the latest example of the ways in which these consequences can translate into tariff-related securities litigation, a plaintiff shareholder has sued used car retailer CarMax, alleging that the company tried to portray the quarterly sales surge that preceded the tariffs’ impact as being due to longer-term company advantages rather than tariff-motivated consumer behavior. A copy of the new CarMax complaint can be found here.Continue Reading CarMax Hit with Tariff-Related Securities Suit

Sarah Abrams

On September 19, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order entitled “Restriction on Entry of Nonimmigrant Workers” (here), which placed new restrictions, costs, and conditions on H-1B visas. In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at the new H-1B visa provisions and considers the potential implications for D&O risk exposure. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to the site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: H-1B Visa D&O Problem?

For those who, like me, watch bankruptcy filing developments for signs about the current and possible future state of the economy, recent data may be worrisome. Just Monday, the Wall Street Journal cited two recent auto parts companies’ bankruptcy filings as evidence of potential trouble in the U.S. credit markets, saying the developments and raising concerns that “something more profound is ailing American borrowers.” Consistent with these concerns, a recent report from Cornerstone Research shows that large company bankruptcy filings are indeed trending upward, with the largest increases in the most recent period. Signs are that these trends will continue going forward, as well.Continue Reading Worrying Signs in Bankruptcy Statistics?

As noted in @Sarah Abrams’s recent guest post (here), President Trump last week proposed in a social media post changing the periodic reporting requirements for public companies from quarterly to semi-annual. Based on a separate interview of SEC Chair Paul Atkins published last week, it appears that the agency is prepared to move forward quickly with this proposal. We can expect to hear a lot of debate in the coming days about whether the proposed changed reporting requirements are a good idea. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on Saturday about the proposed change, clearly coming down on the side that the proposed change is not a good idea. As discussed below, the article also had some interesting information and comparisons that will add to the discussion about the proposal.Continue Reading All the Problems with Eliminating Quarterly Reporting

The idea that companies might be able to avoid securities class action litigation through the adoption of bylaws requiring securities law claims to be submitted to arbitration has been around for years.

Traditionally, the SEC has opposed these types of bylaw provisions. However, in an interesting development, on September 17, 2025, the Commission, in a new policy statement approved by a 3-1 vote along party lines, announced that the decision whether or not to “accelerate the effectiveness of a registration statement” will “not be affected” by the presence of provision requiring the arbitration of investor claims arising under the federal securities laws.

This development suggests that in the future IPO investors could find themselves compelled to arbitrate securities law claims rather than being able to file a securities class action, although, as noted below, there is a lot more that is yet to be told on these issues.Continue Reading SEC Revises Policy on Arbitration Provisions in IPO Companies’ Bylaws

In my recent roundup of the top current stories in the world of D&O, I noted the increasing importance of geopolitical issues as a source of D&O claims risk. Among the factors supporting this trend is the rising relevance of cross-border enforcement initiatives, which in many instances had led to D&O claims. In the latest sign of the importance of cross-border enforcement issues, the SEC has announced the formation of a cross-border task force to “identify and combat cross-border fraud harming U.S. investors.” The SEC’s September 5, 2025, press release about the task force can be found here.  A September 10, 2025, post on TheCorporateCounsel.net blog about the new task force’s formation can be found here.Continue Reading SEC Forms Task Force to Combat Cross-Border Fraud

Sarah Abrams

In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams takes a look at a recent settlement of a securities class action lawsuit in which the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant company had failed to disclose its use in its haircare products of certain banned chemicals, and then considers whether the current Make America Health Again initiatives could expose companies to future claims that they allegedly failed to disclose their continued use of banned chemicals. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her 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 Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: If Looks Could Kill