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

Did The Last Viking Sell Securities?

I have recently been reading Stephen R. Bown's book, The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen.  Readers may recall that it was the Norwegian Amundsen who famously beat the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole in what the press ex post...

Judge Juxtaposes California And Delaware Insider Trading Law

Yesterday, I wrote about Judge Claudia Wilken's recent ruling that the internal affairs doctrine does not supplant California's insider trading statute, Corp. Code § 25402. In re McKesson Corp. Derivative Litig., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81049. While...

Federal Judge Applies California Insider Trading Statute To Delaware Corporation

Attentive readers of this blog should be aware that California included an insider trading statute (Corp. Code § 25402) as part of the Corporate Securities Law of 1968. More than a dozen years ago, a California Court of Appeal held that the internal...

A Field Guide To Corporations And Domestic Corporations

Some may be surprised to learn that a corporation need not be formed under the California General Corporation Law to qualify as a "domestic corporation". Corporations Code Section 167 defines "domestic corporation" to be "a corporation formed under...

Has The DBO Misstated This Statute?

The California Department of Business Oversight administers and enforces the California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders Law).  Visitors to the DBO's website will find a basic description of the CFL, including the following statement:

Why "Transfer or Hypothecate"?

Section 204(b) permits the articles of incorporation to include reasonable restrictions upon the right to transfer orhypothecateshares of any class or classes or series. This is the only time the word "hypothecate" appears in the General...

Caremark Claims And California

A popular claim for plaintiffs in derivative litigation against directors of Delaware corporations has been that the directors breached their duty of oversight.  This theory has its genesis in Chancellor William T. Allen's decision in In re Caremark...

The SEC's New C&DI And Cumulative Voting

Last Friday, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued 45 new Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations relating to proxy solicitations and related schedules.  One of these dealt with the issue of cumulative voting:

The Cancelled LLC - What Is Thy Power?

To call the California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act "quirky" would be to pay it an unmerited compliment.  Take, for example, the provisions governing dissolution.