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On March 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) issued its much-anticipated proposed rule amendments which would mandate certain cybersecurity disclosures for public companies (“Proposed Rules”).

The Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Procurement Collusion Strike Force (“PCSF”) chalked up several more prosecutions soon after we reported its first-ever international resolution — a guilty plea from Belgium-based G4S Secure Solutions NV (“G4S”) on June 25, 2021.

In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has increasingly brought enforcement actions against chief compliance officers (“CCOs”) in their personal capacities.

As recently as 2015, if an investor was interested in understanding more about a company’s climate change risks and impact, it had the option of submitting a stockholder proposal to be included in the company’s proxy materials through the SEC’s antiquated Rule 14a-8 process.

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.”

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.