Posts Tagged ‘SEC policy’
SEC Comment Letters on Climate
At long last, the Securities and Exchange Commission is starting to provide a glimpse of the questions that SEC staffers are asking companies about the risks of climate change — and so far, the companies receiving such questions are doing their best to give the usual imprecise answers. That glimpse came in the form of…
Read MoreGensler Gives SPACs the Side Eye
SEC chairman Gary Gensler took special purpose acquisition companies to task again this week, devoting an entire speech to the governance and disclosure risks that SPACs pose to investors and arguing that SPACs must be beholden to the same investor protection rules that govern traditional IPOs. Gensler spoke Thursday morning at the 2021 conference of…
Read MoreSEC Springs Warning on Option Grants
The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning companies to do better at estimating and reporting the value of “spring-loaded” stock option grants they give to executives, possibly as a prelude to future enforcement actions against companies that continue to ignore the tricky accounting challenges involved here. Spring-loaded stock option grants are equity awards that companies…
Read MoreMore SEC Talk on Cyber, Internal Control
Before this particular bit of news sails downstream, internal control professionals might want to note that an SEC commissioner spoke this week about the importance of internal controls for cybersecurity. She raised a few points worth considering. The remarks came from Caroline Crenshaw, a Democratic appointee to the Securities and Exchange Commission who, in my…
Read MoreNotes on Disclosing Cybersecurity Lapses
Today let’s return to the issue of disclosing cybersecurity issues to investors, because, frankly, so many companies still struggle with exactly what to say in securities filings. That issue came up at the Securities Enforcement Forum last week and we have some excellent insights to share with the class. First let’s note that the Securities…
Read MoreTalk About Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules
Cybersecurity enthusiasts, take note: even a Republican member of the Securities and Exchange Commission is calling for more rules on the subject, to help financial firms and publicly traded companies better understand their disclosure and investor protection duties. The remarks came from commissioner Elad Roisman, in a speech he delivered last week. Roisman stressed the…
Read MoreMore on Reporting Climate Change Risks
A nor’easter is blowing through Radical Compliance headquarters today here in New England, so what better time to talk about climate change? We have a few items about climate change risk assessment and disclosure that are worth noting. First is a speech given last week by SEC commissioner Allison Herren Lee, who has spoken about…
Read MoreSEC Commish Talks ESG, Board Governance
SEC commissioner Allison Herren Lee delivered a speech Monday forcefully laying out the need for corporate boards to take ESG risks and disclosures seriously, presumably as a prelude to whatever enhanced ESG disclosure rules the Securities and Exchange Commission will adopt sometime later this year. Lee, who has spoken about ESG issues numerous times and…
Read MoreGensler Agenda Comes Into View
The Securities and Exchange Commission has released updated plans for its rulemaking agenda, with new proposals on climate change, corporate share buybacks, and insider stock sales coming soon; followed by plans to revisit rules adopted during the Trump Administration on whistleblower awards, shareholder proposals, and disclosure of payments companies make to foreign governments for mining…
Read MoreThe PCAOB House-Cleaning and You
I’m all for a thorough spring cleaning, but this is next-level: the Securities and Exchange Commission fired the head of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on Friday, and told the remaining three board members that they’ll be gone too as soon as the SEC finds suitable replacements. SEC commissioner Gary Gensler announced the news…
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