The SBA released a set of interim final rules to provide additional guidance and clarity to borrowers and lenders both for loan forgiveness and for SBA loan review procedures under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).  The loan forgiveness interim final rule supplements the guidance provided by the actual PPP loan forgiveness application previously published by the SBA, providing timing information and allocating responsibilities as between the lender and the borrower.  The SBA loan review procedures interim final rule sheds little additional light on what borrowers should expect, but does provide additional guidance for lenders with respect to their role in the review process.

With respect to the SBA review process, the interim final rule makes clear that the SBA may choose to review any PPP loan, regardless of size, concerning not only forgiveness amounts and use of proceeds, but also eligibility in the first instance.  The SBA previously announced a safe harbor of sorts for any borrower of less than $2 million regarding the “necessity” certification.  The SBA included in its Frequently Asked Questions FAQ #46 that “[a]ny borrower that, together with its affiliates, received PPP loans with an original principal amount of less than $2 million will be deemed to have made the required certification concerning the necessity of the loan request in good faith.”  No mention was made of this safe harbor, or the related statement in FAQ #46 that if a borrower repays a PPP loan after a determination by the SBA that

The SBA and Treasury published the much anticipated PPP loan forgiveness application late last Friday evening.  The application itself provides more guidance than contained in the existing FAQs and regulations relating to use of PPP loan proceeds and eligibility for forgiveness and includes new certifications.  Absent from the form is any requirement to address the necessity of the loan or to report revenue levels, profitability or other evidence of the impact of the economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its press release announcing release of the form, Treasury and the SBA stated that the form and its instructions reflected measures designed to reduce compliance burdens and simplify the process for borrowers.  Those measures relate primarily to calculation of payroll costs and step-by-step instructions to calculate eligibility for loan forgiveness.  In addition, the form provides that eligible non-payroll costs (so long as not in excess of 25% of the total forgiveness amount) can include payments of interest on any business mortgage obligation (real or personal property) incurred before February 15, 2020; business rent or lease payments on leases in effect prior to February 15, 2020; and covered utility payments so long as for services that began before February 15, 2020.  For a more thorough discussion of the guidance provided by the application form, see our analysis here.

Interestingly, if the borrower and its affiliates received PPP loans in excess of $2 million, the borrower must “check the box”.  We assume this is to flag those

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) recently adopted temporary final rules to Regulation Crowdfunding to address companies’ urgent COVID-19 capital needs.  The temporary rules provide tailored, conditional relief to established smaller companies from certain Regulation Crowdfunding requirements relating to the timing of the offering and the availability of financial statements required to be included in issuers’ offering materials.  For example, the temporary rules provide an exemption from certain financial statement review requirements for issuers offering $250,000 or less in securities in reliance on Regulation Crowdfunding within a 12-month period.

The SEC included the following table summarizing the existing Regulation Crowdfunding and changes resulting from the temporary rules:

  Regulation Crowdfunding Temporary Rule Amendments Eligibility The offering exemption is not available to:

·       Non-U.S. issuers;

·       Issuers that are required to file reports under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934;

·       Investment companies;

·       Blank check companies;

·       Issuers that are disqualified under Regulation Crowdfunding’s

disqualification rules;

·       Issuers that have failed to

file the annual reports

required under Regulation Crowdfunding during the

two years immediately

preceding the filing of the offering statement In addition to the existing eligibility criteria, issuers wishing to rely on the temporary rule amendments must also meeting the following criteria:

·       The issuer cannot have been organized and cannot have been operating less than six  months prior to the

commencement of the offering; and

·       An issuer that has sold

securities in a Regulation

Crowdfunding offering in the past,

Because of the rapid shift from in-person to virtual annual meetings mandated by COVID-19 health and safety concerns, many companies held first-time virtual-only meetings, with both management and shareholders exploring the process in real time.  Not surprising, reports of virtual meeting glitches soon began to emerge.

Twenty minutes into the virtual-only annual meeting of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, shareholder John Chevedden was presenting his shareholder proposal (to allow shareholders to vote on bylaw and charter amendments) when the microphone cut out.  Chevedden filed a shareholder alert with the SEC requesting that the polls be reopened so Goodyear shareholders can vote based on the full text of his proposal presentation.  So far, no word from Goodyear on Chevedden’s allegation that management cut off the microphone.

Earlier this week, the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) sent to a letter to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee expressing concern about some virtual-only annual meetings early in the 2020 proxy season, citing anecdotal reports of problems including:

• Shareholders struggling to log into meetings, in part due to control number snafus;
• Inability to ask questions in some cases if the shareholder voted in advance by proxy;
• Shareholders unable to ask questions during the meeting;
• Possible cherry-picking of questions asked by shareholders and lack of transparency on questions asked by shareholders; and
• Confusion on channels for shareholder participation, with shareholder proposal proponents required to use a different line than that used for general shareholders.

The CII urged public companies to mitigate the

— New NYSE Relief Proposal Tracks SEC-Approved Nasdaq Temporary Rule

The SEC approved yet another temporary measure related to the continued listing rules of the New York Stock Exchange on April 21, 2020.  This time, the NYSE sought and received immediate effectiveness of a proposed rule change to assist listed companies who may fall out of compliance with the $50 million market capitalization and $1.00 price continued listing requirements by providing a tolling period through June 30, 2020.  The NYSE originally sought SEC approval to suspend these requirements until June 30, 2020, citing the unprecedented market declines resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the proposal was rejected.

Companies that fail to maintain either of these NYSE continued listing standards are typically notified by the Exchange of their noncompliance and then must promptly issue a press release and file any required Form 8-K.  Listed companies have up to 18 months to regain compliance with the $50 million market capitalization requirement and up to 6 months to regain compliance with the $1.00 trading price standard under the existing rules.   Under the temporary rule, the Exchange will continue to notify listed companies of any noncompliance, companies will still be required to issue a press release and file the required Form 8-K, but the cure periods will be tolled until June 30, 2020, meaning that the 18-month or 6-month cure period will be calculated as beginning on July 1, 2020.

The Exchange still intends to attach a “.BC” indicator to those noncompliant

Toward the end of the first quarter of 2020, many public companies imposed a blackout period, during which directors and specific employees deemed insiders could not trade the company’s stock. The obvious purpose of these blackout periods is to prevent insiders from trading at a time when they are likely to have material nonpublic information about the soon to be completed quarter.  This year, insiders were also likely to have material nonpublic information about the early impact of the coronavirus on their business, including demand, supply chain, cancelled orders and the costs of complying with stay-at-home orders.  In an earlier alert, we noted that trading while in possession of early visibility into the impact of the coronavirus on the business could be deemed insider trading, and that the SEC expressed concerns about trading under these circumstances.

Typically, public companies plan to open the trading window to permit insiders to trade within a day or two of issuing their earnings release for the quarter.  Even in these uncertain times, many public companies may be able to maintain their normal protocols.  As they consider this issue, public companies should be sure that their earnings release contains sufficient disclosure around the impact of coronavirus on the business and management’s expectations of the impact going forward.  For some companies, waiting until the Form 10-Q is filed to open the window may be advisable.  For others, including an expanded earnings release that provides more fulsome analysis to the market about the coronavirus impact and then setting out

Companies face unprecedented challenges as they grapple with earnings releases and analyst and investor calls, all while trying to understand the impact COVID-19 has had on their businesses in less than one month.  While many companies had strong first quarters before the nation’s full-mitigation response to COVID-19, it is likely that many experienced a very different end to the quarter and start of the next.  It is also likely that as a result, some companies will miss previous earnings projections.

The SEC and the exchanges (NYSE and Nasdaq) are clearly making an effort to help companies during this period of uncertainty. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has been very vocal in encouraging public companies to provide prompt earnings information as well as information about past and future efforts to address the effects of COVID-19, regardless of whether they are in a position to file reports on time.

Most recently, Chairman Clayton was joined by William Hinman, the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, in a joint statement detailing their observations and requests “[i]n an effort to facilitate robust disclosure and engagement.”  The NYSE then sent emails to its listed companies directing attention to the joint statement.  Here are some key takeaways:

• This quarter, earnings statements and calls will not be routine. SEC staff encourages disclosure to be as timely, accurate and robust as practicable under the circumstances.
• Companies are urged to provide as much information as practicable about their current operating status and future operating
  

In remarks at a special meeting of the Investor Advisory Committee on April 2, Chairman Jay Clayton encouraged public companies to promptly provide as much information as possible about period-end earnings information, even if filings are delayed due to COVID-19.  He stated that the conditional relief afforded by the 45-day extension and the Staff’s guidance on COVID-19 disclosures should allow issuers to “provide prompt, period-end earnings information, and information regarding their past and expected future efforts to address the effects of COVID-19, regardless of whether they are able to comply with filing deadlines.”

Chairman Clayton stated that investors and markets “thirst for information as a general matter,” and that this is exacerbated in a period of economic uncertainty.  He stated plainly that an inability to file required reports on time due to COVID-19 challenges does not prevent public companies from issuing their earnings releases and filing current reports on Form 8-K.

While many companies typically release earnings and other financial results prior to filing the Form 10-Q or Form 10-K, for those issuers who cannot file timely due to the impacts of COVID-19, it may also not be possible to have sufficient certainty to go out with earnings releases.  It its earlier guidance (CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 9), the staff stated that “timely, robust, and complete information is essential to functioning markets” and encouraged timely reporting if possible.  The staff also, however, acknowledged that the COVID-19 impacts might present “novel or complex accounting issues” and make it

The SEC Staff has provided guidance as to disclosure and other securities law obligations (the Guidance) related to COVID- 19 and related business and market disruptions.

The Guidance provides the SEC Staff’s views on

• disclosure related to COVID-19
• material non-public information related to COVID-19 and
• reporting earnings and financial results during this period, including guidance with respect to non-GAAP measures related to COVID-19.

Assessing and Disclosing the Evolving Impact of COVID-19. The SEC Staff reminds companies that the effects COVID-19 has had on a company, what management expects its future impact will be, how management is responding to evolving events, and how it is planning for COVID-19-related uncertainties can be material to investment and voting decisions.

The Guidance lists a number of detailed questions management should consider relating to, among other things: a company’s financial condition and results of operations; capital and financial resources; valuation of balance sheet assets; possible material impairments; effects on operations resulting from remote work arrangements, including on controls; business continuity plans; customer demand; supply chains; human capital resources and productivity; and the effects of travel and border restrictions.

The Staff encourages companies “to provide disclosures that allow investors to evaluate the current and expected impact of COVID-19 through the eyes of management, and that companies proactively revise and update disclosures as facts and circumstances change.”

Material Non-Public Information. The Guidance includes a reminder that if COVID-19 has affected a public company in a material way, or where the company has become aware

Last week, the SEC announced that it issued an order (the Order) further extending its prior relief for public companies affected by COVID-19, as well as for others required to file reports with respect to such companies.

On March 31, 2020, the SEC Staff published two new interpretations of the Order (New Exchange Act Rule CDIs 135.12 and 135.13), supplementing the relief announced last week and described below.

The relief provides public companies subject to the reporting requirements of Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with a 45-day extension to file certain reports that would have otherwise been due between March 1 and July 1, 2020, thereby superseding and extending the SEC’s prior order of March 4, 2020.

­Covered Filings.  The relief applies to, among others, Form 10-Ks, 10-Qs, 8-Ks, proxy statements on Schedule 14A, information statements filed on Schedule 14C, and Schedule 13Gs – as well as any other filings under Sections 13(a), 13(f), 13(g), 14(a), 14(c), 14(f), 15(d) and Regulations 13A, 13D-G (except for those provisions mandating the filing of Schedule 13D or amendments to Schedule 13D), 14A, 14C and 15D, and Exchange Act Rules 13f-1, and 14f-1.

Conditions.  The extension is available to those companies who are unable to meet a filing deadline because of circumstances related to COVID-19.  To take advantage of the extension, a company must furnish a Form 8-K or Form 6-K (as applicable) by the original filing deadline for each affected filing and disclose (i)