On June 7, 2022, Senators Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a bill to regulate digital assets and promote financial innovation. The proposed legislation is the first significant, bipartisan effort to apply comprehensive regulation to digital assets.
On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) issued its long-awaited proposed ruleset (Rule Proposal) that, if adopted as currently drafted, would mandate both domestic and foreign registrants to make a variety of climate-related impact and risk disclosures in registration statements and in annual filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).
On March 17, 2022, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-10 clarifying the scope of potential liability for CCOs related to supervision lapses. Specifically, unless a CCO is actually designated, directly or indirectly, with supervisory responsibilities, within the meaning of the relevant rule, supervision failures or deficiencies will not result in a FINRA enforcement action against a CCO.
On 09 March 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to its rules on disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident reporting by public companies. These rules are intended to enhance and standardize cybersecurity disclosures, and, if adopted in their current form, would require public companies to disclose cybersecurity-related policies, procedures and all material cybersecurity incidents.
After months of individual Commissioners and the Chair promising to do so, on December 15, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued proposed amendments to Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as proposing a number of additional disclosure requirements.
In yet another step forward on the SEC’s path toward a comprehensive ESG disclosure framework, on September 22, 2021, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance issued a Sample Letter to Companies on Climate Change Disclosure, relying on the Commission’s 2010 Climate Change Guidance.