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On February 8, Vinson & Elkins Partner and Co-Head of Government Investigations & White Collar Defense Palmina Fava joined Jill Malandrino on Nasdaq TradeTalks.

This year kicked off with several important name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) updates that universities, boosters,¹ and NIL Collectives² would do well to review. Earlier this month, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions Panel (the “Committee”) issued a negotiated resolution with Florida State University (“FSU”) following an investigation into alleged impermissible conduct during the recruitment of a football player who was listed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (“NCAA”) transfer portal. This resolution comes on the heels of new NCAA disclosure rules and the NCAA President’s letter that proposes allowing universities to enter into NIL agreements with student-athletes.

On October 25, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Fifth Circuit”) upheld the Nasdaq board diversity rule in the face of challenges that (among other things) the rule attempted to improperly and unconstitutionally dictate the composition of corporate boards.

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter.

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates.

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates.

Historically, companies gave little thought to antitrust considerations when they developed environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) goals and plans.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (“NCAA’s) interim guidance on name, image, and likeness (“NIL”), colleges and universities are starting to debut a new position: the Director of NIL Engagement.

On May 9, 2022, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) issued new guidelines to its Division I member schools on name, image, and likeness (“NIL”).

On April 4, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division (the “Division”) announced important policy and practice changes to its leniency program (the “Leniency Program”) — the first substantive changes to the Antitrust Division Leniency Policy and Procedures (the “Policy”) since its inception in 1993.

Speaking at the Munich Cyber Security Conference on February 17, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) plans to prioritize “cyber disruption,” foster international partnerships, and increase its investigative and deterrent capabilities to bolster its crypto-enforcement arsenal and to combat cyber threats.

Update: The UCPA was signed into law by Governor Spencer J. Cox without amendment on March 24, 2022.