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Over the past few weeks, there has been a flurry of SEC ESG-related developments. As we predicted, the current SEC acting chair has wasted no time in indicating that the SEC’s 2010 climate change disclosure guidance is beyond dated.

General Counsel and in-house legal departments have long struggled with articulating the risk of and determining the appropriate response to breaches of the company network and the potential exposure of confidential information about employees and third parties. It’s rarely a simple question.

On June 25, 2020, V&E partner Fry Wernick spoke on a Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones Risk & Compliance panel entitled, “Lessons from Recent Compliance Failures.”

Practising Law Institute and Vinson & Elkins are pleased to present a webinar on the potential corporate compliance risks resulting from COVID-19.

A board of directors’ vision and leadership becomes particularly vital during times of distress.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a track record of aggressively pursuing those suspected of fraudulently exploiting federal relief programs meant to combat crises,¹ and early signs indicate that DOJ will continue this practice with the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Scrutiny into Paycheck Protection Program Loans Intensifies — Attracts SEC Attention

On May 4, 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“the Fed”) released Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQ”) regarding the previously announced Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (“PMCCF”) and the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (“SMCCF”). The PMCCF is intended to allow eligible companies access to credit so they are better able to maintain business operations and capacity during the period of dislocation related to the pandemic.

As COVID-19 continues to claim lives and disrupt the global economy, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has begun taking a number of actions to protect investors from COVID-19-related frauds.

As the first quarter earnings season kicks off over the next few weeks, public companies need to figure out how best to describe the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis on their business, both in their historical results for the first quarter of 2020 and on their prospects going forward.

In January 2020, which now seems like a very long time ago, I was speaking to a group of directors on board oversight of risk management, and at one point during my talk I uttered a phrase I’ve been known to say, “risk management is crisis management, and crisis management is risk management.”