Yesterday, the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) announced it had secured complete access to inspect and investigate issuer engagements of audit firms headquartered in China and Hong Kong, marking the first time in history that Chinese authorities allowed complete access for inspections and investigations meeting US standards.
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the PCAOB…
On March 24, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted interim final rules to implement portions of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the HFCA Act), which was signed into law by President Trump on December 18, 2020. As explained in an earlier Mayer Brown Legal Update, the HFCA Act aims to…
On December 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA) into law. Later that day, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton published a statement providing an update on a planned SEC rulemaking in light of the enactment of the HFCAA. Noting the significant overlap between the HFCAA and…
On August 26, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Regulation S-K that are intended to modernize business, legal proceedings and risk factor disclosures. According to the SEC, the amendments are designed to update rules, to improve the readability of disclosures and to simplify compliance for reporting companies. These amendments become…
On April 8, 2020, the Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) – Jay Clayton – and the Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance – William Hinman – issued a joint statement titled The Importance of Disclosure – For Investors, Markets and Our Fight Against COVID-19 (the “Statement”) providing guidance…
