Capital Markets & Securities Law Watch

On March 7, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) announced charges against Skechers U.S.A. Inc. (Skechers) for violating Rules 13a-1 and 14a-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), by failing to disclose certain transactions with related persons in reports filed with the SEC for the years 2018 through 2021. 

On March 6, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) announced the adoption of final rules requiring registrants – both domestic companies and foreign private issuers (FPIs) – to include climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports. 

The SEC’s staff in the Division of Corporate Finance issued a new C&DI on April 6, 2020, clarifying that registrants unable to incorporate Form 10-K Part III information by reference within the allotted 120-day window following the end of the filer’s fiscal year may use the 45-day relief granted by the SEC’s earlier COVID-19 Order (the Order) as long as the 120-day deadline falls within the relief period specified in the Order and the registrant meets the conditions of the Order. 

International events, such as Brexit and the 2007 global recession, often drive SEC disclosures by public companies, and the disease known as COVID-19 (the “Coronavirus”) is proving to be no exception. On March 4, the SEC advised all public companies to assess what the Coronavirus means for their future operations and financial results and to make appropriate disclosures to their shareholders and other members of the investment community.

As of February 14, 2020, COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, has infected over 64,000 people in at least 24 countries and caused 1,384 deaths, mostly in mainland China. In response, governments around the world have instituted quarantines, closed or restricted border crossings, and limited the ability of goods and people to move freely around the world.