[co-author: Madison Gaudreau]
On April 14, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Gary Gensler as the 33rd Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”).[1] This change will bring forth a Democratic majority at the SEC which, in turn, suggests that the Commission will change its current emphasis on capital formation to focus more on investor protection and the following other areas: rules required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) such as security-based swaps, compensation, and stress tests for certain SEC registrants like asset managers; and inspections, examinations, and enforcement. Below we examine what to expect from Mr. Gensler’s SEC, including an expected new enforcement landscape and heightened interest in digital currency, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”), and new disclosure mandates for issuers on climate and ESG issues.
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Climate change, global warming and similar subjects are the daily grist of the news. The Washington Post reported recently, for example, that huge quantities of ice are melting at an alarming rate. The newly installed Biden administration has made the environment and global warming a central issue, moving almost immediately to get the U.S. back into the Paris Agreement. The SEC, the premier U.S. disclosure agency in the view of many, has disclosure provisions tracing to 2010 that are at best minimalist. Although it just concluded an aggressive rule writing campaign which included provisions of Regulation S-K that govern the 2010 rules, no significant changes were made. Is it time for the agency to address the issue?
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Man who drove GameStop mania speaks out
The wild week on Wall Street fueled by a short squeeze ended with the market plunge, but GameStop, a key stock behind the market chaos, is still surging.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it is closely monitoring and evaluating the extreme price volatility of certain stocks’ trading prices over the past several days.
This announcement comes at the end of a week that saw massive disruptions on Wall Street fueled by amateur traders loosely organizing on Reddit, although the SEC s statement did not mention any stocks, social media platforms or trading platforms specifically.