Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Eric Knox provided comments for a Law360 article detailing the guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to in-person shareholder meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the public health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, the Staff sought to provide guidance to assist filers, shareholders and other market participants with meeting their federal proxy obligations.
“The SEC is trying to create some avenues for people to be able to comply with state law” and meet filing obligations and do that in a way that’s not punitive, because no one could have predicted or prevented this,” Eric told Law360.
The full article, “SEC Relaxes Rules For In-Person Activity Amid Coronavirus,” was published by Law360 on March 13 and is available online. For additional insights, please read the firm’s blog posts on this topic, “SEC Staff Provides Guidance for Conducting Virtual Meetings in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic” (March 16) and “COVID-19 Pandemic Causes Public Companies to Reevaluate Virtual Meetings” (March 13).