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

NY Courts Disagree On California Demand Requirement

Unlike the federal courts and Delaware's Court of Chancery, California has a statutory demand requirement.  Section 800(b)(2) of the Corporations Code provides:

Why Your Next Director Might Not Be An LLC

From time to time the question arises about whether a limited liability company, corporation or some other form of entity might serve as a director.  This is, in fact, a question that I tackled four years ago in this post. The short answer is that...

DBO Seeks Comments On Commercial Loan Disclosure Rules

This September, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1235 (Stats. 2018, Ch. 1011) into law. In a nutshell, SB 1235 adds a new division to the Financial Code imposing specific loan disclosure requirements on providers of commercial financings. These...

It's A Brand New Biennium!

The California legislature reconvened on Monday. Cal. Const. Art. IV, § 3(a). Over 100 bills have already been introduced in the Assembly. The Senate is far behind with just 51 bills introduced thus far. The first day business in both houses...

A "Criminal Waste Of Space" Foments Concern About Possible Vestiarian Crisis

This month's issue of Orange County Lawyer includes another entertaining column by Court of Appeal Justice William D. Bedsworth. He points out that Government Code Section 68110 requires every judge in open court during the presentation of causes...

Do Ineffective Internal Controls Expand A Shareholder's Right Of Inspection?

Section 1601 of the California Corporations Code establishes a shareholder's right to inspect the "accounting books and records and minutes of proceedings of the shareholders and the board and committees of the board". A shareholder's inspection,...

SEC Is On The Look Out For Touts

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled charges against professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer Khaled Khaled, known as DJ Khaled. Notably, the SEC's orders did not use the words "false", "misleading"...

Why Sign Annual Meeting Minutes?

Over at The Mentor Blog, Broc Romanek recently addressed the question of whether minutes of an annual meeting must be signed.  Broc's post provides John Jenkins' answer under Delaware law.  For those interested in California law, I provided three...

Commissioner Jackson Writes In Support of Political Spending Disclosure Rule

Seven years ago, Professor Robert Jackson joined 9 other academics in petitioning the SEC to adopt a rule requiring disclosure of political spending. Professor Jackson is now an SEC Commissioner. Not surprisingly, Commissioner Jackson supports the...