TheCorporateCounsel.net

Here is an interesting blog that describes the “2012 Rittenhouse Rankings Culture & Culture Survey,” which is a ranking of the transparency of the annual letters to shareholders from the CEO that are included in glossy annual reports. I didn’t dig into the criteria – so I can’t vouch for the value of the rankings. But I can point out the importance of usability – and storytelling – when drafting disclosure, as recently covered in this blog (and related video)…

Congress: SEC’s Tech Budget Slashed in Half

Per this Washington Post article, Congress approved the SEC’s budget with a $50 million reduction in the agency’s funding for technology – this will force the SEC to scale-back its project for monitoring real-time trading data and its review of company financial statements. Ah, the life of an “independent agency”…

According to this Bloomberg article, one rogue employee in the SEC’s NYC office has caused the SEC to examine the stock holdings of 3400 staffers for compliance with the agency’s ethics rules…

January-February “Special” Issue: Deal Lawyers Print Newsletter

This January-February Issue of the Deal Lawyers print newsletter was just sent to the printer and is a special “looking forward, looking back” issue which includes 9 articles from some of the most prominent members of the M&A bar:

1. 10 Most Influential M&A Developments of this Millennium
– by Barbara Borden & Jennifer Fonner DiNucci
2. Where Are All the Women M&A Dealmakers?
– by Diane Holt Frankle
3. Modernization of Corporate Law in the Fly-Over States
– by Phil Garon
4. A New Era for Management Compensation in Change-in-Control Transactions
– by Michael Katzke & Henry Morgenbesser
5. The Future of Mergers
– by Marty Lipton
6. The Impact of the Internet on Deal Lawyering: Some Reflections
– by Brian McCarthy
7. Important Trends in Cross-Border M&A for US Professionals: 1990-2013
– by Phillip Mills
8. Special Negotiating Committees & the Delaware Bar
– by Gil Sparks
9. Other People’s Money: The Evolution of Dealing with Financing Execution Risk in LBO & Strategic Mergers
– by Robert Spatt

If you’re not yet a subscriber, try a 2014 no-risk trial to get a non-blurred version of this issue on a complimentary basis.

– Broc Romanek