Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange should review their policies on related party transactions and related processes to confirm they are consistent with recent revisions to the applicable NYSE rules.

Longstanding NYSE rules required that “an appropriate body” within listed companies review related party transactions, but did not expressly define what constituted a related party transaction. The conventional wisdom was that related party transactions referred to transactions required to be disclosed under Item 404 of Regulation S‑K, which generally requires disclosure of transactions in which (i) the amount involved exceeds $120,000 and (ii) a related party has a direct or indirect material interest.

In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved amendments to Section 314.00 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual. The revised NYSE rule expressly:

• Defines a related party transaction as a transaction required to be disclosed under Item 404 of Regulation S-K without applying the $120,000 threshold thereunder;
• Provides that the audit committee or comparable independent body of the board must conduct an independent prior review of all related party transactions; and
• Requires that the audit committee (or comparable independent body) prohibit related party transactions it determines to be inconsistent with the interests of the company and its shareholders.

As a result of the NYSE’s exclusion of the $120,000 transaction value threshold, for some companies the scope of related party transactions requiring review and approval by the audit committee under the NYSE rule may be broader than the related

On June 15, 2021, the SEC announced that it had settled charges against First American Financial Corporation for failures in First American’s disclosure controls and procedures.  Rule 13a-15(a) under the Exchange Act requires issuers to maintain disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by an issuer in reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. 

According to the SEC’s order, in May 2019, company management learned from a journalist that the company was experiencing a cybersecurity vulnerability that had resulted in the inadvertent public availability of customers’ personal data.  First American responded by issuing a statement to the press explaining that the company had learned of a design defect that had resulted in “possible unauthorized access to customer data” and had taken “immediate action to address the situation and shut down external access” to the data.  A few days later, First American issued a press release that was also furnished on Form 8-K.  In the release, the company reported that there was “[n]o preliminary indication of large-scale unauthorized access to customer information.”

Contrary to these disclosures, the SEC found that the vulnerability had exposed sensitive personal data, including social security numbers, in over 800 million images of customer documents for a period dating back to as early as 2003.  The SEC also found that the senior executives of the company who were

SEC Chair Gary Gensler testified yesterday before the House Committee on Financial Services about the SEC’s efforts to assess and address the market volatility that occurred in GameStop and other “meme stocks” resulting in significant price volatility and trading volume spikes earlier this year. 

Gensler said the SEC is working to determine, in the face of changes in technology and finance, how to continue to achieve core public policy goals while ensuring that the markets work for everyday investors.  Gensler cited seven factors that were at play during the volatile trading periods:

• Gamification and User Experience:  Mobile apps expanded access to capital markets, making it easy for investors to sign up, start trading, get wealth management advice, and learn about investing. The apps use a host of familiar online features, such as gamification (points, rewards, leaderboards, bonuses, and competitions), behavioral prompts and differential marketing, to increase customer engagement.
  • Gensler said the staff is preparing a request for public input to consider these issues and determine how to ensure investors using apps with these types of features are appropriately protected and how SEC rules, including Regulation Best Interest, apply in these situations. Gensler noted that many SEC regulations were written well before today’s technologies and communication practices existed and need to be re-evaluated to protect the futures, retirements and education of the investing public.

• Payment for Order Flow:  Gensler noted that in the last few years, most retail broker-dealers stopped charging fees for trades
  

The House Committee on Financial Services met virtually on April 20, 2021 to consider legislation that, among other things, would require public companies to annually disclose the voluntarily, self-identified gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status of their board directors. The Committee cited a 2017 board diversity survey finding that increased board diversity improves companies’ ability to innovate and enhances overall business performance.

In the meantime, the wait continues for an SEC decision on Nasdaq’s proposed “comply or explain why not” mandate that would require public disclosure of board diversity statistics for most Nasdaq-listed companies, initially proposed in December 2020.   The SEC most recently acted on these rules on March 10, 2021, when it issued an “Order Instituting Proceedings to Determine Whether to Approve or Disapprove Proposed Rule Changes, as Modified by Amendment No. 1” (the “Order”).  The Order postponed the date, which had already been extended, by which the SEC is required to make its decision regarding the proposed rules, as amended, until possibly as late as August 2021. 

Some speculated that the delay was, at least in part, to allow time for Gary Gensler to be named SEC Chair.  The Senate confirmed Gensler’s nomination on April 14, 2021, and he was sworn in as a member of the SEC on April 17, 2021, so many expect movement on the Order this summer.  Comments continue to trickle in to the SEC website, and the SEC Office of the Investor Advocate continues to meet by telephone

Last week the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance issued a statement addressing a variety of accounting, financial reporting and governance issues that a private operating company should consider before undertaking a business combination with a special purpose acquisition company (a “SPAC”), shortly followed by one by the Acting Chief Accountant addressing financial reporting and auditing considerations for companies considering merging with SPACs.

The Corporation Finance statement addressed:

• Ineligibility for
  • The 71-day extension for target company financials, which must be filed on Form 8-K within four business days of closing the de-SPAC transaction
  • Incorporation of 1934 Act filings on Form S-1 until three years after closing 
  • Use of Form S-8 to register equity plans until 60 days after filing the “Super 8-K” containing required “Form 10 information” 
  • WKSI status, use of free writing prospectuses and certain other less strict requirements for public offerings 
• Public company reporting requirements applicable to the SPAC before, and the combined company after, closing including
  • Books and records requirements
  • SEC reporting and disclosure requirements 
  • The Staff noted that in the limited circumstances described in S-K CDI 215.02, it would not object if the combined company were to exclude management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting in the Form 10-K covering the fiscal year in which the transaction was consummated 
  • New accounting requirements
• Stock exchange listing standards, including quantitative as well as corporate governance
  

The SEC recently announced its adoption of interim final amendments to certain forms, including Form 10-K and Form 20-F, to implement the congressionally mandated document submission and disclosure requirements of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCA Act”) that became effective in December 2020.  The amendments will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.  They apply to public companies (each, a “Commission-Identified Issuer”) that are identified by the SEC as having filed an annual report that includes an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that (1) has a branch or office located in a foreign jurisdiction and (2) the PCAOB has determined it is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction.  The SEC will be responsible for identifying such companies, and the PCAOB will be required to identify audit firms that have a location in such a foreign jurisdiction.

Annual Report Amendments.  The new requirements will be implemented (1) with respect to Form 10-K, by the addition of Part II, Item 9C, and (2) with respect to Form 20-F, by the addition of Part II, Item 161.  Each new item will be captioned “Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.”

New Submission Requirement – Commission-Identified Issuers.  The new rules refer to any year in which the SEC identifies a company as a Commission-Identified Issuer as a “non-inspection year.”  The interim final amendments will require that each Commission-Identified Issuer submit, on or

The SEC recently issued a public statement asking investors, companies and other market participants to share their views on climate change disclosure.  Comments are due by June 13, 2021 and can be submitted via the SEC webform or email.  In addition to, or in lieu of, written submissions, the SEC staff is also willing to meet with members of the public to discuss their feedback.

The SEC generally will post submissions on www.sec.gov, so personal identifying information should not be included in written feedback. The SEC encouraged commenters to include empirical data and other information in support of their comments. Original data may assist the SEC in assessing the materiality of climate-related disclosures, and the costs and benefits of different regulatory approaches to climate disclosure.

The public statement contains 15 multipart questions for consideration, including the key excerpts set out below.  Please refer to the public statement for the full text of the questions.

In a speech on March 15, 2021, Allison Herren Lee, Acting Chair of the SEC, reported on the steps the SEC is taking to meet investors’ growing demand for climate and ESG information, stating that “no single issue has been more pressing for me” and that “climate and ESG are front and center for the SEC.”  She observed that there has been a shift in capital towards ESG and sustainable investment strategies, and that ESG risks and metrics increasingly affect investment decision-making.

Lee indicated that the SEC will devote substantial resources to investor protection initiatives that extend beyond, but are mutually reinforcing of, the SEC’s climate and ESG initiatives.  She noted that these other initiatives include, among others, ensuring strong and clear standards for broker-dealers, taking a “hard look” at the effects of the continuing flow of capital away from the public markets and proceeding with equity market structure reforms.  Reflecting the change in administration and SEC leadership, she noted that this may result in undoing some recently adopted rules and/or guidance.

Highlights of Acting Chair Lee’s speech follow:

Improving Climate and ESG Disclosures.  Lee noted that the SEC’s fundamental role with respect to climate and ESG is helping ensure that material information gets into the market in a timely manner.  She believes the SEC’s current voluntary framework for climate and ESG disclosures neither ensures that result nor meets investor demands; as a result, the SEC has begun taking steps to create a mandatory and comprehensive ESG disclosure framework

SEC Commissioners: Are Recent Announcements Changes from Status Quo or New PR Twist?

SEC Commissioners Hester M. Peirce and Elad L. Roisman today issued a statement providing their perspectives on the recent wave of climate-related announcements by the Divisions of Enforcement, Examinations and Corporation Finance.  Emphasizing that in their view the recent announcements raise more questions than they answer, the commissioners note their impact is not yet clear and query whether the announcements “represent a change from current Commission practices or a continuation of the status quo with a new public relations twist.”  Recent SEC ESG developments include:

• On March 4, 2021, the SEC announced the creation of a Climate and ESG Task Force in the Division of Enforcement to, among other things, develop initiatives to proactively identify ESG-related misconduct.
• On March 3, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Examinations announced its 2021 examination priorities, which include a greater focus on climate-related risks.
• On March 2, 2021, Gary Gensler, President Biden’s nominee to serve as SEC Chair, noted in a Senate confirmation hearing that investors increasingly want to see climate risk disclosures. He indicated that, if confirmed, he would support the SEC’s focus on more climate-related disclosures.
• On March 2, 2021, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce announced the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act which, if adopted as proposed, would direct the SEC to adopt climate risk disclosure rules within two years.
• On February 24, 2021, Allison Herren Lee,
  

For companies knee deep in proxy statement drafting and 2021 executive compensation decisions, we recommend a quick refresher on Glass Lewis’ December 2020 Approach to Executive Compensation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and ISS’ October 2020 COVID-19-related compensation FAQs, as well as ISS’ more general December 2020 compensation-related FAQs and equity plan-related FAQs.  Highlights include:

Glass Lewis Approach to Executive Compensation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Glass Lewis released this December 2020 guidance to illustrate how it will apply its executive compensation policies in 2021 in the wake of COVID-19.  Glass Lewis noted that the pandemic has not changed its approach to executive pay, which is a “pragmatic, contextual approach that applies in good times and bad.”  Some of the key topics covered are:

Pay-for-Performance Analysis.  Glass Lewis does not expect the macroeconomic climate to have a drastic impact on its pay-for-performance model and will continue to take a holistic approach when evaluating the alignment between executive pay and company performance within the context of the pay-for-performance model and the pandemic.

Say-on-Pay Proposals.  Glass Lewis notes that how companies respond to changing macroeconomic conditions resulting from the pandemic will dominate say-on-pay votes.  Given that an executive’s base salary represents a relatively low portion of his or her total compensation, Glass Lewis will view temporary base salary reductions in the face of the pandemic to be token gestures.  Glass Lewis will instead look closely at overall pay levels, including scrutinizing mid-cycle pay