Securities Experts Address The Changing Regulatory And Enforcement Landscape
Leading securities practitioners discuss this year’s Institute on Securities Regulation, which includes around 20 panel discussions on the hottest securities regulatory and corporate governance topics.
For over 50 years, Practising Law Institute (PLI) has hosted an unparalleled annual event that brings together the nation’s leading securities experts for three days of dynamic, engaging panel discussions. This year’s 53rd Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, taking place in New York and via webcast on November 3‒5, “promises to be one of the best yet,” said Kurt Wolfe of Quinn Emanuel, who co-hosts PLI’s inSecurities podcast.
Why the confidence? The conference has a lot of ground to cover in 2021, from changes at the SEC and the new administration to the (hopefully) post-pandemic business and securities landscape. Attendees will hear updates on all of the important topics (capital markets, financing, accounting, proxy, securities litigation, and enforcement), and two new panels will cover the increasingly hot topic of ESG (climate and the S&G of ESG) – plus, regulators will provide the latest on enforcement and rulemaking priorities.
Wolfe and his podcast co-host, Chris Ekimoff, a forensic accountant with RSM US LLP, recently sat down with the Institute’s co-chairs, Meredith Cross of WilmerHale, Keir Gumbs of Broadridge Financial Solutions, and Carmen Lawrence of King & Spalding, to hear what the program has to offer.
Pulling together a program that includes approximately 20 panel discussions on securities regulatory and corporate governance topics is no small task. In developing this year’s Institute, Carmen Lawrence said, chairs and faculty focused on bringing attendees “the greatest and the latest information regarding developments in the federal securities laws and securities regulation, market trends, and significant issues and offerings, transactions, and disclosures, and the government’s enforcement priorities and agenda.”
With many years of tenure at the SEC, including as Regional Director for the SEC’s Northeast Regional Office, Lawrence understands that attendees are eager to hear from regulators: “We are particularly focused on providing the audience with an understanding of the signals, the messages being sent by the regulators, so that the attendees know where the SEC and the securities laws are now – and maybe even more importantly, where they’re going to be over the course of the next year.”
Keir Gumbs, whose experience at the SEC includes serving as Counsel to SEC Commissioner Roel C. Campos, added, “Back when I was on the staff, there was so much excitement about this particular conference, because it’s one of those rare opportunities where you get the mix of academics, you get practitioners, you get in-house people, and you have the staff all there together talking about the cutting edge issues, affecting corporate governance, securities finance, and accounting matters.” Some of the hot topics to be addressed this year include crypto and ESG related issues, financing issues for public companies, including the impact of SPACs, exit alternatives and private company de-SPACing, and venture market updates.
Meredith Cross, who was Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the SEC before rejoining WilmerHale as a partner, emphasized that practical take-aways were central to the planning of this year’s Institute. For instance, she noted, a panel on disclosure developments for public companies will touch on cybersecurity and what and when to disclose, a particularly hot topic in the wake of the SolarWinds hack and anticipated rulemaking. Cross commented: “We all know that people need practical information – that they’re not just interested in hearing what people are thinking about. They actually want to know what to do – I think that’s a special thing about this program.”
To learn more and to register for the 53rd Annual Institute on Securities Regulation taking place in person in New York and via live webcast, visit pli.edu. Keep up with developments in securities rules, regulations, and cases from a practitioner’s perspective in both law and accounting with PLI’s inSecurities podcast, available on all podcast players.
Practising Law Institute is a nonprofit learning organization dedicated to keeping attorneys and other professionals at the forefront of knowledge and expertise. PLI is chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York and was founded in 1933 by Harold P. Seligson. The organization provides the highest quality, accredited, continuing legal and professional education programs in a variety of formats which are delivered by more than 4,000 volunteer faculty including prominent lawyers, judges, investment bankers, accountants, corporate counsel, and U.S. and international government regulators. PLI publishes a comprehensive library of Treatises, Course Handbooks, Answer Books and Journals also available through the PLI PLUS online platform. The essence of PLI’s mission is its commitment to the pro bono community. View PLI’s upcoming live programs here.
