June 2, 2005
SEC Chairman Donaldson: Short-Timer At Last!
Last October, I blogged about how Chairman Donaldson was showing all the signs of a being a short-timer. But he hung in there until yesterday, when he announced he was resigning effective June 30th. I believe his legacy will hold up quite well as an incredible amount of rulemaking – impacting all facets of the market – was adopted during his two and a half year tenure. Not bad for a man who never really wanted the job.
Of course, now the rumor-mill begins about his successor, who will step into a tenuous situation as the Commission has been divided over numerous crucial rulemakings in recent months? According to numerous media reports, the answer is Congressman Chris Cox (R-Cal.) and that the President will announce the appointment this morning. So much for suspense! This Washington Post article talks about how some of Donaldson’s reforms might be revisited by a Chairman who is more in line with President Bush’s themes.
Analysis of Delaware Court Decision re: Reach of California Law
More podcasts on the way, including this new podcast with Keith Bishop who analyzes – and provides insight into the ramifications of – the recent Delaware Supreme Court VantagePoint Venture Partners decision, including:
– Why is the Delaware Supreme Court interpreting the California Corporations Code?
– In what situations does California Corporations Code Section 2115 purport to apply?
– Is this a problem for all public companies?
– Now that the Delaware Supreme Court has spoken, can counsel safely forget about California’s reach-out statute?
– Should we expect any other fall-out from the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision?
Get Ready to Understand the SEC’s Comment Letter Database (and How to Best Couch Confidential Treatment Requests)
I am excited that a pair of key SEC Staffers, Corp Fin Deputy Director Shelley Parratt and Branch Chief Suzanne Hayes, has joined the panel for the June 16th webcast: “How to Navigate Tricky Confidential Treatment Requests.” Shelley will open the program to discuss the new SEC comment letter database – and Suzanne will join a group of practitioners that specialize in confidential treatment requests to deconstruct how to best prepare CT requests – which is an art more important than ever now that SEC comment letters and responses are posted on the SEC’s website.
This blog is the first evidence I have seen that members of the general public will be picking apart comment letters.