Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance
Cooley and the Berkeley Center for Law and Business met for a two-day hybrid conference, featuring panel discussions, workshops and interviews on cutting-edge topics in corporate governance, M&A and business law. The Berkeley Forum was hosted live in San Francisco, in accordance with local safety regulations and vaccine mandates, and […]
2021 Update: 10 Key Considerations for Going Public with a SPAC
It is a reasonable extrapolation – and we are nothing at Cooley if not wildly reasonable – that, since the beginning of time, more operating companies are considering going public through a merger with a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company). While the number of SPAC IPOs may have peaked in […]
9th Circuit Decides Section 11 Standing in a Direct Listing
When the SEC was considering the NYSE’s proposal to permit direct listings of primary offerings, one of the frequently raised problems related to the potential “œvulnerability ” of “œshareholder legal rights under Section 11 of the Securities Act. ” Section 11 provides standing to sue for misstatements in a registration statement to […]
Past Event: 2021 TechGC + TechCFO IPO Forum
Cooley is a proud sponsor of the 2021 TechGC + TechCFO IPO Forum “œMastering the Intersection of Company Culture and the IPO Process. ” Checklists and processes are static, but company culture is dynamic. With the backdrop of one of the busiest IPO years in recent memory, GCs are facing […]
SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee to Consider Recommendations Regarding SPACs
Tomorrow, in addition to Rule 10b5-1 plan recommendations (see this PubCo post), the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee is slated to take up draft subcommittee recommendations regarding SPACs. The new SPAC recommendations address SPAC regulatory and investor protection issues that have been under scrutiny as a result of the proliferation of SPACs in […]
Are SPACs Really “œInvestment Companies “?
Not according to 49 major law firms! Earlier this month, a shareholder of Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, Ltd., filed derivative litigation against the company’s board, its sponsor and other related companies, contending that the company, a SPAC organized by a billionaire hedge-fund investor, is really an investment company that should […]
SEC Decreases Fee Rates for Fiscal 2022, Which Begins October 1, 2021
Today, the SEC announced that it was reducing the fees it charges issuers to register their securities. In fiscal 2022, the fee rates for registration of securities and certain other transactions will be $92.70 per million dollars, down from $109.10 per million dollars last year. These rates are set each year to […]
Past Event: The New Landscape of Going Public
Axios + Cooley hosted a virtual launch event for the newest Get Smart series, which dug into the details of how and why companies go public, and recent related trends. In addition, we covered the many ways companies have to adjust to maintain trust in the public eye, from navigating […]
DOJ and SEC file fraud charges against Nikola CEO
Is there anything topical missing from this case? There’s a SPAC. There’s social media. There’s an unorthodox, charismatic CEO. There are electric vehicles. There are hydrogen trucks with drinking fountains using hydrogen fuel cell by-product water produced by the truck “”or not. And, there’s a DOJ criminal indictment and an SEC […]
SEC charges misleading claims and inadequate due diligence in SPAC transaction
The SEC has announced charges against Stable Road Acquisition Corp. (a SPAC), SRC-NI (its sponsor), Brian Kabot (its CEO), Momentus, Inc. (the SPAC’s proposed merger target), and Mikhail Kokorich (Momentus’s founder and former CEO) for misleading claims about Momentus’s technology and about national security risks associated with Kokorich. All the […]