Securities

Expert Analysis

• Capital Leases Are Dead, Long Live Finance Leases

  

  Starting this year, public companies must adopt the Financial Standards Accounting Board's new lease accounting rules, which eliminate the defined term "capital leases." Lenders and borrowers alike will need to consider taking a new approach to drafting credit agreements, says Brad Boericke of Pepper Hamilton LLP.

• 2019 Annual Meeting And Reporting Considerations: Part 3

  

  In the third installment of their four-part series, attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP consider corporate governance best practices including environmental, social and governance reporting, updates to director and officer questionnaires, board diversity and related disclosures, and shareholder proposals.

• A Closer Look At CFTC's Loss In Market Manipulation Case

  

  While the New York federal court's decision in U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Wilson may embolden defendants in CFTC and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforcement matters, the circumstances surrounding it should continue to serve as a caution to market participants, say Michael Brooks and Robert Pease of Bracewell LLP.

• Arbitrators And Mediators Should Reflect Society's Diversity

  

  Alternative dispute resolution providers have made great strides toward diversity, but recent statistics show there is still work to be done. There are certain steps ADR providers can take to actively recruit more women and minority candidates to serve as arbitrators and mediators, says James Jenkins of the American Arbitration Association.

• Why AFAs Are Key To The Future Of Legal Practice

  

  Alternative fee agreements can help align law firm and client interests, increase efficiency and eliminate corporate extortion, among other benefits. They are the best thing to happen to the practice of law in decades, says Kelly Eisenlohr-Moul at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.

• 2019 Annual Meeting And Reporting Considerations: Part 2

  

  In this installment of their four-part series, attorneys at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP offer insights to companies on executive compensation matters for 2019 — including pay ratio and hedging disclosures, say-on-pay votes and changes in pay practices due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

• FINRA's Suitability Rule Vs. SEC's 'Best Interest' Reg

  

  A key 2019 priority for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will be adopting the proposed Regulation Best Interest. Attorneys with Eversheds Sutherland explore the questionable foundation of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's claim that it is unnecessary.

• 2019 Annual Meeting And Reporting Considerations: Part 1

  

  Each company faces important decisions in preparing for its 2019 annual meeting and reporting season. This four-part series by attorneys at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP covers essential items on which companies should focus, including corporate governance, executive compensation and disclosure matters.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Barron Reviews 'The Clamor Of Lawyers'

  

  Can lawyers lead a revolution? According to "The Clamor of Lawyers: The American Revolution and Crisis in the Legal Profession" — a slim but elegant volume by Peter Charles Hoffer and Williamjames Hull Hoffer — they can and they did, says First Circuit Judge David Barron.

• Common Stockholders Can Wa[i]ve Appraisal Rights Goodbye

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery recently held that language in an agreement requiring minority stockholders to waive appraisal rights was enforceable. Though the case is already on appeal, practitioners should make sure agreements with drag-along rights include unambiguous waiver provisions whenever possible, say attorneys at Goodwin Procter LLP.