Boardroom Archive

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant volatility in the equity markets, with companies across different sectors experiencing sometimes precipitous declines in share prices coupled with significant changes in share ownership. Public companies often experience an uptick in activist demands and unsolicited offers after such periods of exceptional turbulence. The 2008 financial crisis, for example, was followed by a significant increase in unsolicited offers, proxy cont...

The Covid-19 pandemic presents complex issues for corporations and their boards of directors to navigate. This briefing is intended to provide a high-level overview of the types of issues boards of both public and private companies may find useful to focus on in the current environment. Management bears the day-to-day responsibility for handling the corporation’s response to the pandemic. The board’s role is one of oversight, which requires monitoring management...

– CNN reported that the French Competition Authority said it is fining Apple €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) over restrictions it placed in contracts with wholesalers, the biggest antitrust fine the French authority has imposed. The regulator alleged that Apple and two of its wholesalers ‘agreed not to compete’ and as a result prevented distributors from competing with each other, ‘thereby...

Corporate secretaries, general counsel and boards must stay alert to changing circumstances as they respond to the coronavirus and its potential impact on their companies, according to Alston & Bird partner David Brown. ‘They will need to be nimble in terms of disclosures and shareholder outreach’ while making sure not to be hysterical, Brown tells Corporate Secretary. He has been fielding incoming calls from clients on the coronavirus issue, with some wanti...