Business Law and Corporate Law

Executive management equity incentive plans serve as powerful tools for retaining key employees and creating value ahead of M&A transactions. Understanding the nuances between true equity and phantom equity structures, along with tax considerations and vesting schedules, can significantly impact transaction success and enterprise value.

Recently, the Delaware Court of Chancery held in Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System v. Glenn Sanford, et al. (“eXp”) that officers’ and directors’ fiduciary oversight obligations may extend to the investigation and remediation of workplace sexual misconduct and that a failure to respond adequately in good faith to such claims may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty under the Caremark doctrine.

In recent remarks on April 28, 2026 at the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, Paul S. Atkins, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), discussed the current IPO market and how the SEC’s regulatory posture has shaped decision-making for companies. Chairman Atkins argued that “decades of accretive rulemaking…have made the path to becoming a public company narrower” and have similarly had a detrimental effect on the ability to remain a public company.