To continue assisting US companies with planning for SEC reporting and capital markets transactions into 2022, we offer our annual SEC Desktop Calendar. This calendar provides both the filing deadlines for key SEC reports and the dates on which financial statements in prospectuses and proxy statements must be updated before use (a/k/a financial staleness deadlines).
Securities Regulation
PCAOB Adopts Final Rule on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act
On September 22, 2021, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB“) adopted a final rule (the “Final Rule“) implementing the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCAA“), which became law in December 2020 and prohibits foreign companies from listing their securities on U.S. exchanges if the company has been unavailable for PCAOB inspection or investigation for three consecutive years. The Final Rule (available here) requires U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) approval before it goes into effect.
SEC Staff Scrutiny of Climate Change Disclosures Has Arrived: What to Expect And How to Respond
Recently, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has issued a number of comment letters relating exclusively to climate-change disclosure issues. The letters we have seen to date comment on companies’ most recent Form 10-K filings, including those of calendar year companies who filed their Form 10-K more than 6 months ago, and have been issued by a variety of the Division’s industry review groups, including to companies that are not in particularly carbon-intensive industries. Many of the climate change comments appear to be drawn from the topics and considerations raised in the SEC’s 2010 guidance on climate change disclosure, as reflected in the sample comments that we have attached in the annex to this alert. We expect this is part of a larger Division initiative because the letters are similar (although not identical), contain relatively generic comments, and have been issued in close proximity to one another. Accordingly, it is reasonable to expect that additional comment letters will be issued in the coming weeks and months.
What Can We Expect from the SEC with COP26 Around the Corner?
Climate change matters and related calls for regulation are in headlines daily. On August 9, 2021, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the first major international assessment of climate-change research since 2013. The IPCC report will inform negotiations at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, beginning on October 31, 2021 in Glasgow.
Direct Listings on Nasdaq May Include Primary Capital Raise
In May, the SEC issued an order (here) approving a proposal by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) permitting primary offerings in connection with a direct listing. This allows companies that are going public through a direct listing to raise proceeds in the direct listing, similar to an IPO. This development follows the SEC’s prior approval of a similar rule proposed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that also permits primary capital raises in connection with a direct listing. See Gibson Dunn’s Current Guide to Direct Listings (here) and Nasdaq’s Direct Listing page (here) for more information.
SEC Staff Issues Cautionary Guidance Related to Business Combinations with SPACs
There were more initial public offerings (“IPOs") of special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs") in 2020 alone than in the entire period from 2009 until 2019 combined, and in the first three months of 2021, there have been more SPAC IPOs than there were in all of 2020. All of these newly public SPACs are looking for business combinations and many private companies are or will be considering a combination with a SPAC as a way to go public.
SEC Chair Lays Out a Climate- and ESG-Oriented Agenda and Calls for Comments on Mandatory Climate-Related Disclosure Rules
On March 15, 2021, the Acting Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Allison Herren Lee, gave a speech entitled “A Climate for Change: Meeting Investor Demand for Climate and ESG Information at the SEC,”[1] in which she sets forth a near-term regulatory agenda for the SEC that centers on climate and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) topics. On the same day, she also jump-started the regulatory process toward adopting potentially extensive new disclosure requirements for public companies on climate-change matters by issuing a request for comments on 15 broad issues.[2]
SEC Announces Enforcement Task Force Focused on Climate and ESG Issues
On March 4, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the creation of the “Climate and ESG Task Force” in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.[1] The purpose of the Task Force is to “develop initiatives to proactively identify ESG-related misconduct.” The Task Force’s initial focus will be to identify “any material gaps or misstatements in issuers’ disclosure of climate risks under existing rules.” The Task Force will also “analyze disclosure and compliance issues relating to investment advisers’ and funds’ ESG strategies.”
Nasdaq Amends Proposed Rules to Allow Primary Direct Listings
As discussed in Gibson Dunn’s Current Guide to Direct Listings, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) recently amended its rules to permit a primary offering in connection with a direct listing. The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) also had proposed rules permitting primary offerings in connection with a direct listing.[1] On February 24, 2021, in the course of the SEC’s review, Nasdaq amended its original proposal to bring its rules more in line with those adopted by the NYSE and approved by the SEC – clearing up some confusion caused by the original proposal.[2]
Now Available: Considerations for Preparing Your 2020 Form 10-K
As we do each year, we offer our observations on new developments and recommended practices for calendar-year filers to consider in preparing their annaul report on Form 10-K. In addition to the many challenges of the past year, the SEC adopted and provided guidance on a number of changes to public company reporting obligations impacting disclosures in the 10-K for 2020. In particular, we discuss the recent amendments to Regulation S-K, disclosure considerations in light of COVID-19, a number of technical considerations that may impact your Form 10-K, and other considerations in light of recent and pending changes in the executive branch and at the SEC. The full memo is available at the following link: