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

Does Former Officer Have An Obligation To Turn Over Whistleblower Award?

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced "a whistleblower award payout between $475,000 and $575,000 to a former company officer who reported original, high-quality information about a securities fraud that resulted in an SEC...

Broad Coalition Delivers Blunt Rebuke To SEC Chairman

Last month, I wrote that the SEC's about face in responding to the no-action letter request of Whole Foods Market, Inc. "clearly wasn’t the SEC’s finest hour."  See SEC’s Rule 14a-8 Volte-Face Is Pointlessly Outré But It Does Have Real World...

Is Anything Fishy With The SEC's Whistleblower Inquiries?

Yesterday, Rachel Louise Ensign of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the SEC recently sent letters "to a number of companies asking for years of nondisclosure agreements, employment contracts and other documents". According to Ms. Ensign, the SEC...

Finders Bill Was Lost, But Now Is Found

In the last legislative biennium, the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar sponsored a bill, AB 713 (Wagner), to clarify the status of finders under the California Corporate Securities Law of 1968. Despite a...

The "Long Arm" Of Section 2115 May Be Shorter Than Some Believe

Recently, I came across a prospectus that included a description of California Corporations Code Section 2115 under the caption "Description of Capital Stock".  The description began:

To Conjoin Or Not To Conjoin - California Sometimes Gets It Wrong

This is as an easy mistake to make. I say so because I've made it more than once. The name of the landmark Depression era legislation regulating our national securities markets is the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; the name of the regulator is the...

Indicate By Check Mark If This Instruction Makes No Sense: √

I wonder if I'm alone in being completely mystified by the following instruction that appears on the cover page of the SEC's Form 10-K:

SEC's Rule 14a-8 Volte-Face Is Pointlessly Outré But It Does Have Real World Ramifications

Readers may recall that last December Whole Foods Market, Inc. had secured the SEC staff’s concurrence in excluding a shareholder access proposal submitted by Jim McRitchie. Then, SEC Chair Mary Jo White directed the staff "to review the rule...

Does The SEC Have Hedging Backwards?

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is proposing new rules requiring "disclosure about whether directors, officers and other employees are permitted to hedge or offset any decrease in the market value of equity...