In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with Diageo plc, a London-based producer of liquor, wine and beer, for failure to make required disclosures of known trends and uncertainties, thereby rendering its required periodic filings materially misleading with respect to its financial results. The enforcement action provided immediate insight into how the Securities and Exchange Commission would act on its recent guidance related to disclosing key performance indicators and other metrics in MD&A reporting. The enforcement action makes it clear that public issuers should expect increased scrutiny of any metrics used to assess business performance and ensure they have appropriate disclosure controls and procedures in place.

With the aim of eliminating certain duplicative disclosures, and modernizing and enhancing Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) disclosures for the benefit of investors while reducing the compliance burden on companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed amendments to simplify and enhance certain financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K. The proposed amendments, released January 30, 2020, are part of an ongoing re-evaluation of the current disclosure regime per the SEC’s recommendation in the Report on Review of Disclosure Requirements in Regulation S-K, which was mandated by Section 108 of the JOBS Act, adopted in 2012.

The proposed amendments would eliminate Items 301 (Selected Financial Data), 302 (Supplementary Financial Information) and 303(a)(5) (Tabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations in MD&A) of Regulation S-K, as well as revise a number of disclosure obligations under Item 303 (Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition … Read More »

On April 14, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its opinion in the conflicts minerals case, National Association of Manufacturers, et al., v. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Court of Appeals upheld most aspects of the statute and the rule, but found that the statute and rule violate the First Amendment “to the extent that the statute and rule require regulated entities to report to the Commission and to state on their website that any of their products have not been found to be ‘DRC conflict free.’” The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. As of this time, there is no reprieve for issuers from the requirement to file a Form SD or conflict minerals report with the … Read More »