On March 30, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued proposed rules focused on special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and subsequent business combination transactions between SPACs and private operating companies (known as de-SPAC transactions)....
Content By Christopher J. Hubbert
Utah Becomes the 4th State to Pass Consumer Privacy Legislation – Will the Federal Government Ever Catch Up?
The UCPA is the Nation’s Fourth State Consumer Privacy Law On March 24, 2022, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed Utah Senate Bill 227, the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) into law. The UCPA is the nation’s fourth state consumer privacy law, following California,...
The Ongoing Battle Between Musk and the SEC Heats Up Again
Elon Musk's Tumultuous History With the SEC Tesla’s colorful CEO, Elon Musk, has a history of feuding with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and it looks like the fight isn’t over. In 2018, the SEC investigated Musk for securities fraud after he tweeted...
SEC Proposes New Cybersecurity Disclosure Requirements for Public Companies
The SEC's Rule Proposals Aim to Assist Investors On March 9, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules “to enhance and standardize disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident reporting by...
The SEC Had No Love for BlockFi this Valentine’s Day
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not hesitated to conclude that crypto assets are securities subject to the Securities Act of 1933, but with BlockFi, the SEC went a step further and, for the first time with respect to a crypto lending platform, found...
SEC Efforts to Modernize Beneficial Ownership Reporting Don’t Go Far Enough
Overlap in the Securities Act of 1934 The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) presides over two separate beneficial ownership reporting schemes under Sections 13 and 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although both sections govern disclosure of beneficial...
SEC Staff Issues Report on GameStop and Other Meme Stocks
2021 was a year of unexpected—and sometimes baffling—events. In the midst of cascading economic failure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and political turmoil, one cartoonishly-quirky episode swept the nation involving an unlikely main character: GameStop Corp (NYSE:...
Ohio Attorney General Files Complaint to Treat Google As Common Carrier And/Or Public Utility
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made the decision to face Google head-on with his office’s June 8, 2021 filing of a complaint for declaratory judgment to treat Google as a common carrier and/or public utility in the State of Ohio. This step is just the first of many...
Dogecoin Nears $50 Billion — Wow, Much Amaze!
An unlikely cryptocurrency is now worth almost 50 times what it was valued on January 1 of this year. According to the Dogecoin website, the digital currency is “favored by Shiba Inus worldwide.” Clearly, Dogecoin doesn’t take itself too seriously, so why does it have...
SEC Updates Accredited Investor Definition
Private companies seeking to raise capital by selling equity to investors must structure the raise so that it is not considered a public offering under the Securities Act of 1933 unless they are prepared to undergo the cost and expense of an IPO. The most commonly...