SEC Enters into Deferred Prosecution Agreement l Securities Lawyer 101
In January of 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced it would strengthen its enforcement program by encouraging greater cooperation from individuals and companies in SEC investigations and enforcement actions. One of those measures included the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (“DPA”). On May 17, 2012, the SEC entered into its first such agreement with Tenaris S.A., a steel pipe manufacturer. Read More
What is a Form S-8 Registration Statement?
Registration of securities on Form S-8 (“Form S-8”) is a short-form registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), providing significant benefits to small issuers. Form S-8 is available to register securities offered to employees and consultants under benefit plans under limited circumstances. Because a registration statement on Form S-8 is effective upon filing it offers benefits to SEC reporting companies, most significantly that an S-8 registration statement becomes effective upon filing and the shares registered may be issued without a restrictive legend. Read More
How FINRA Rule 6490 Impacts Reverse Mergers
FINRA Rule 6490, recently enacted in September 2010, requires issuers of securities not listed on exchanges to provide timely notice to FINRA of certain corporate actions including reverse mergers. Rule 6490 corporate actions include name changes, forward stock splits, reverse stock splits, distributions of cash or securities such as dividends, stock splits and other actions, and rights and subscription offerings.
Rule 6490 codifies Rule 10b-17 of the Securities Exchange Act. The new rule will impact both SEC reporting and non-reporting issuers if they enact corporate changes including issuers who go public direct and conduct underwritten or direct public offerings and those who pursue reverse mergers with public shells. Complying with this criteria is often an unexpected legal and compliance cost for many issuers not familiar with the rule. This is particularly true for issuers who engage in reverse mergers with public shells. Read More
