Here is your recap of important topics recently covered by Gunster's corporate and securities law practice in The Securities Edge. Did you miss theses blog posts? Sign up now to receive future blog posts by email as soon as each is published.
Good news: Reg A+
Challenge to Regulation A+ denied
Good news for issuers considering a Regulation A+ offering: Back in May 2015, Massachusetts and Montana sued the SEC in an attempt to invalidate the Regulation A+ rules. Montana attempted to obtain an injunction to prevent the Regulation A+ rules from going into effect last June, but was denied. Now, the D.C. Circuit court has officially rejected the lawsuit brought by the two states. Read more >>
IP lockdown
New federal law provides additional protection for trade secrets
This new legislation, called the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, or DTSA, has been hailed by commentators as an extremely significant addition to federal intellectual property law. Read more >>
Crowdfunding for the little guy
What's up with crowdfunding? So far, not much (but a fix may be coming)
Reward-based crowdfunding has been operational for a long time and has had some pretty positive results, but the SEC’s equity crowdfunding rules were going to be a way for small investors to make equity investments in small companies and help foster the growth of the tech and innovation economies. Read more >>
NDAs vs. state law
Keeping your trade secrets safe: When NDAs can backfire
Traditional nondisclosure agreement (NDAs) are good tools to protect a company's confidential information during discussions with third parties – but business owners and executives should ensure the NDA they're using does not jeopardize the strong protections already available under state laws. Read more >>
Bob's Upticks
Timely news & comments on developments in the world of securities and corporate governance.
- The SEC's summer menu
Here is a quick review of what the SEC has recently added to the menu of regulations for public companies: (1) an "interim final rule" permitting, but not requiring, a summary of business and financial information on Form 10-K, with some new tweaks; and (2) an order permitting financial statement data in "Inline XBRL" format. Read more >>
- Senator Warren strikes again
This time, Senator Elizabeth Warren's attack was directed to the SEC’s “effective disclosure” project – something many companies and investors support – claiming the SEC is putting companies’ interests ahead of investor protection. Included is a link to a video that includes the Warren vs. White exchange. Read more >>
- Another zombie from the PCAOB
Over the years, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has developed a reputation for pursuing zombie proposals, or proposals that appear to be dead due to widespread opposition and even congressional action. The latest zombie proposal would modify the standard audit report in a number of respects, the most significant of which would require disclosure of CAM, or “critical audit matters." Read more >>
- Mind the GAAP
Concerns about the misuse of non-GAAP information are not new. The latest salvo from the SEC is a new set of compliance and disclosure interpretations (CD&Is), reminding issuers to tread carefully when releasing non-GAAP information. The following are just some of the items on the SEC’s list of no-nos ... Read more >>
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