Join BakerHostetler for our series of Fireside Chats about the latest developments impacting the capital markets and their participants, and the blockchain industry.
[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.
To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
On December 8, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved final passage of a $740.5 billion annual defense policy bill, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“National Defense Authorization Act” or “NDAA”), by a vote of 335-78-1, a veto-proof majority. Following a filibuster on December 10, on December 11, the U.S. Senate approved the NDAA by a vote of 84-13, also a veto-proof majority. The bill now heads to the President for his signature, who has threatened a veto because the bill does not include a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Passage of the NDAA marks the 60th consecutive year that the Congress has adopted this legislation, which the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee noted “fulfills our most important constitutional duty: to provide for the security of this nation and the men and women who lay