| Posted by Hillary H. Holmes; Lori Zyskowski; Ronald O. Mueller; Elizabeth A. Ising Topic(s): Audit Committee; Corporate Governance; ESG; IPOs; Securities Regulation; Shareholder Proposals
Gibson Dunn’s summary of director education opportunities has been updated as of October 2025. A copy is available at this link. Boards of Directors of public and private companies find this a useful resource as they look for high quality education opportunities.
This quarter’s update to the summary of director education opportunities includes a number of new opportunities as well as updates to the programs offered by organizations that have been included in our prior updates.
| Posted by Ronald O. Mueller; Elizabeth A. Ising; Thomas J. Kim; Brian J. Lane Topic(s): Corporate Governance; Proxy Statements and Annual Meetings; Securities Regulation; Shareholder Proposals
In a significant dinner speech on October 9, at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, SEC Chairman Atkins signaled the SEC’s willingness to take a step that could significantly alter the landscape for shareholder proposals submitted under Exchange Act Rule 14a-8, by allowing companies (at least, Delaware companies) to exclude precatory/non-binding shareholder proposals. In practice, the vast majority of Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals are precatory. The speech is available here: SEC.gov | Keynote Address at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance’s 25th Anniversary Gala
| Posted by Mellissa Campbell Duru; Thomas J. Kim; Elizabeth A. Ising; Andrew L. Fabens Topic(s): Capital Markets; IPOs; Proxy Statements and Annual Meetings; Registered Securities Offerings; Registration Statements; Securities Regulation; Shareholder Proposals; Underwriters and Agents
Division of Corporation Finance Statements on the Government Shutdown
A partial shutdown of the federal government is on track to occur at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, if Congress is unable to reach agreement on legislation funding the government. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) announced today that, after 5:30 p.m. EST, “the Division of Corporation Finance and the Division of Investment Management will not be in a position to act upon any … requests [for effectiveness] until the SEC receives appropriations to fund its operations.” The Division advised that commencing October 1, a limited number of staff would be available to answer questions relating to fee calculations and emergency filing relief and it directed filers needing assistance with such matters to submit a request and contact information to CFEmergency@sec.gov.
| Posted by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Topic(s): Corporate Governance; Disclosure; Proxy Statements and Annual Meetings; Say on Pay; Securities Regulation; Shareholder Proposals
In a significant no-action letter issued on September 15, 2025 to Exxon Mobil Corporation, available here, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (the “SEC Staff”) concurred that the company can implement a groundbreaking “Retail Voting Program” allowing retail shareholders to provide a standing instruction under which in future annual meetings their shares will be voted on an on-going basis as recommended by the company’s board of directors. Although the no-action request was issued to Exxon Mobil, other companies should be able to implement similar programs in reliance on the SEC Staff’s concurrence.
| Posted by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Topic(s): Corporate Governance; Securities Regulation
We, the partners of Gibson Dunn’s Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Practice Group, are proud to congratulate our friend and colleague James J. Moloney on his appointment as the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
| Posted by Harrison Tucker; Hillary H. Holmes Topic(s): Securities Regulation
As previously reported on our Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Monitor here and here, domestic and foreign “resource extraction issuers” are required to annually disclose information about certain payments made to foreign governments or the U.S. federal government on Form SD. For companies with a December 31, 2024 fiscal year end, this year’s form will be due by September 29, 2025.
| Posted by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Topic(s): Capital Markets; Disclosure; Financial Statements; IPOs; Private Placements; Registered Securities Offerings; Securities Regulation
As described more fully in this press release, today the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new statistics and data visualization webpage that includes statistics and graphics on key elements of the capital markets, such as initial public offerings, exempt offerings, corporate bond offerings, reporting issuers, municipal advisors, transfer agents, and household participation in the capital markets.
| Posted by Hillary H. Holmes; Lori Zyskowski; Ronald O. Mueller; Elizabeth A. Ising Topic(s): Audit Committee; Corporate Governance; ESG; IPOs; Securities Regulation; Shareholder Proposals
| Posted by Mellissa Campbell Duru; James J. Moloney; David Korvin Topic(s): Disclosure; Securities Regulation
On July 11, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it updated certain Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DIs”) related to Exchange Act Sections 13(d) and 13(g) and Regulation 13D-G Beneficial Ownership Reporting. The updated C&DIs, including comparisons to previously issued C&DIs that the SEC provided, have been compiled in Annex A.
| Posted by Brian J. Lane; James J. Moloney Topic(s): Capital Markets; Corporate Governance; Securities Regulation
Earlier today, the Commission issued a small wave of press releases announcing several new hires at the SEC. Thus initiating the process of filling several key vacancies, including:
We expect more announcements to follow, including a new Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. Stay tuned!