Keith Paul Bishop

Keith Paul Bishop

Keith Bishop works with privately-held and publicly-traded companies on federal and state corporate and securities transactions, compliance, and governance matters. He is highly-regarded for his in-depth knowledge of the distinctive corporate and regulatory requirements faced by corporations in the state of California. While many law firms have a great deal of expertise in federal or Delaware corporate law, Keith’s specific focus on California corporate and securities law is uncommon. A former California state regulator of securities and financial institutions, Keith has decades of experience navigating the regulatory-intensive state’s rules. For companies with substantial operations in California but incorporated elsewhere, Keith is an exceptional resource. He is frequently called in to help with issues arising under California’s “blue sky” and lender laws. An avid writer, Keith’s blog, www.calcorporatelaw.com, covers a diverse collection of California corporate and securities law issues and has served as a valued resource for other attorneys, business executives, judges, and media, nationwide.

Recent Posts

Stare Decisis Strikes Out At The Supreme Court

Readers of this blog may remember the case of Gilbert Hyatt versus the California Franchise Tax Board.  The litigation arose from the FTB's outrageous conduct in auditing Mr. Hyatt after he claimed to have moved to Nevada.  See Nevada Supreme Court...

Deadlocks And The Provisional Director

Section 308 authorizes the Superior Court to appoint a provisional director in two different circumstances.  Although both involve the existence of a deadlock, the conditions under which a provisional director may be appointed are very different.

Professor Bainbridge Asks "If Corporations Are Not People, What Are They?"

Professor Stephen Bainbridge asks "If corporations are not people, then what are they?"  Although I hesitate to cavil over diction, I do think the question is more properly framed "If corporations are not persons, then what are they?" 

How Close A Relation Is Section 25110  To Section 12(a)?

Section 12(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 covers two types of civil liability. Section 12(a)(1) concerns violations of Section 5 which imposes registration and prospectus delivery requirements on the offer and sale of securities. Section 12(a)(2)...

Friendship Formed In Middle School Yields Duty of Trust And Confidence

In U.S. v. O'Hagan, 521 U.S. 642 (1997), the United States Supreme Court held that that a person who misappropriates material nonpublic information from the source of the information may be guilty of insider trading even though he or she did not owe...

In California Not Every Beneficial Interest In A Trust Is A Security

California's statutory definition of "security" lists by name two types of trust certificates - collateral trust certificates and voting trust certificates. Cal. Corp. Code § 25109. Both of these certificates are also found in the definition of...

Instauring Lost Instruments

What can be done when a document or instrument has been lost or destroyed?  California Civil Code Section 3415 provides an answer:

I-Bank Bill Becomes A Study Bill

I have written several posts on SB 528 (Hueso), a bill that I considered a potential "sleeper". In my parlance, a "sleeper" is a bill that doesn't attract much attention but results in big changes.  SB 528 would have chartered the California...

California's New Uniform Trust Decanting Act

In a recent post, I remarked that as a corporate and securities lawyer I was unfamiliar with the term "decanting" in respect to trusts. Much to my surprise, I have since learned that last year California actually enacted a uniform trust decanting...