Articles by Ben Bain

SEC Weighs Four-Day Deadline for Firms to Disclose Major Hacks

Companies would face more pressure to alert the public of hacks or other significant cybersecurity incidents under a new plan from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC will consider a proposal on Wednesday that would require publicly-traded firms …

Wall Street, Tech Firms Fear SEC Climate Disclosure Will Trigger Lawsuits

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may make corporations reveal more about climate risks in key regulatory filings, a push that Wall Street and the biggest tech companies say will lead to a barrage of shareholder lawsuits. Top SEC officials …

SEC Throws Another Wrench into Wall Street’s SPAC Machine

U.S. regulators are throwing another wrench into Wall Street’s SPAC machine by cracking down on how accounting rules apply to a key element of blank-check companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission is setting forth new guidance that warrants, which are …

SEC Warns SPACs Aren’t a Way to Avoid Securities Laws

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a fresh warning for the booming SPAC market: Blank-check companies aren’t an end-around to avoid disclosing key information to investors. In a Thursday statement, a top SEC official made clear that despite their …

SPAC Mania Anxiety Grows; Bankers, Regulators, Insurers Try to Keep Pace

Anxiety is growing that the wellspring of special-purpose acquisition companies, a 2020s echo of the dot-com mania of the 1990s, is bumping up against the limits of both Wall Street and Washington. The pipeline of SPACs rushing to market is …

Trump Administration Forms Financial Frauds Task Force

In forming a new task force to protect consumers from fraud, the Trump administration made clear that one of the greatest threats to the public is just emerging: red-hot markets for crypto coins. The inclusion of virtual tokens — along …

Trump’s SEC Considering Shielding Companies from Investor Class Action Suits

In its determination to reverse a two-decade slump in U.S. stock listings, a regulator might offer companies an extreme incentive to go public: the ability to bar aggrieved shareholders from suing. The Securities and Exchange Commission in its long history …

Ecuador Earthquake’s Death Toll Rises; AIR Worldwide Comments

World leaders from the Vatican to Washington offered support to Ecuador as casualties mounted following one of the strongest earthquakes to strike the South American country in decades. The number of dead has climbed to at least 350 from 272 …