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To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. SEC requirements on SPACs are ramping up. The last time they did so, blank-check companies languished. How will greater scrutiny this time round impact the momentum of SPACs in play and in the planning stages? The surge in todays market darling special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) has the SEC taking notice. On April 8, the SEC issued a public statement outlining a myriad of concern...

What happened  In a recent client alert, we discussed the dramatic rise in offerings of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and some of the attendant litigation and enforcement risks. A raft of recent public statements and actions by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff reflect the agencys enhanced scrutiny of these transactions and suggest that enforcement investigations (and ultimately actions) cannot be far behind. In late March 2021, it was reported that the SECs Div...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: SPACs seem to be having their moment in the financial world, especially in 2021.  In less than three months, U.S.-based SPACs have raised more money – almost $88 billion – than all SPACs combined in 2020 (which held the previous high for SPAC investment by some margin).  They have even reached a level of societal notoriety, as shown by this week’s cover of New York Magazine.  However, before SPACs and their supporters can car...

To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. SPACs seem to be having their moment in the financial world, especially in 2021.  In less than three months, U.S.-based SPACs have raised more money – almost $88 billion – than all SPACs combined in 2020 (which held the previous high for SPAC investment by some margin).  They have even reached a level of societal notoriety, as shown by this weeks cover of New York Magazine.  However, b...

March Madness extends into April as the Commission markedly increases its focus on SPACs. TAKEAWAYS Surprise pronouncements call into question use of the PSLRA safe harbor for projections and accounting treatment for warrants. Flurry of activity and nature of the SEC’s guidance may signal a desire to cool down the hot market for SPACs. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) is raising its voice on Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), alerting sponsors, targets, a...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: For the first time in several years, securities fraud cases declined in 2020, largely due to the pandemic. 1 However, we don’t expect this decrease to continue. Just three months into 2021, there are a number of issues trending in this practice area, including:  Securities litigation against non-U.S.-based issuers;   Securities and derivative litigation arising from SPACs and de-SPAC transactions;  Securities and derivative liti...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: As the wave of SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions continues to build, so too has the scrutiny of these transactions from the SEC and the shareholder plaintiff’s bar. On April 8, 2021, the SEC gave its clearest warning yet among a series of recent signals that it plans to intensify its review of de-SPAC transactions. Most recently, the SEC raised the possibility that statements in a de-SPAC transaction proxy statement fall within the...

John Coates, Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), issued a public statement providing insight into the SEC’s...