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

Court of Appeals Finds SEC's Analysis "was not just superficial, it was nonexistent."

Yesterday, I wrote about a strategy of not showing up to prevent a quorum from being established at an annual meeting of stockholders. What happens when the Securities and Exchange Commission initiates administrative proceedings against you and you...

When The Best Offensive Strategy May Simply Be To Stay Home

While I enjoy studying and thinking about game theory problems, I find that it is often difficult (at least for me) to apply it to "real world" corporate situations. Defining the game, the rules and strategies just seems so much more complicated...

Introducing the ARR Ratio

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule requiring the national securities exchanges and national securities associations to prohibit the listing of any equity security of an issuer that is not in compliance with the...

District Court Refuses To Apply Business Judgment Rule To Claims Against Officers

Since 2008, a total of 38 banks have failed in California (See this list of failed banks). When this happens, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation acts as receiver for the bank. Since the FDIC is also an insurer of the failed bank's deposits,...

Commissioner Issues Proposed Revisions To Proposed Private Fund Adviser Exemption

Earlier this week, the Commissioner of Corporations issued additional proposed changes to Rule 260.204.9.  As explained in this post, the Commissioner extended the current version of that rule until July 12 of this year. 

Ex Parte Communications And SEC Rulemaking

In this recent post, I discussed a petition submitted by Professor Lucian Bebchuk and nine other academics asking that the Securities and Exchange Commission adopt rules requiring public companies to disclose to shareholders the use of corporate...

Delaware Court of Chancery "Overrules" Federal Court

I've often heard the claim that one reason to incorporate in Delaware is that the courts won't surprise you.  When I hear this, I recall the surprise, and even outrage, in the aftermath of Smith v. Van Gorkom, 488 A.2d 858 (Del. 1985) .  See, e.g., ...

Are Bylaws Required?

Is a corporation required to have bylaws?  I expect that many attorneys considers anyone who thinks bylaws are not required to be benighted at best.

Will The Pilot Know When A Corporation Has "Crost the Bar"?

Section 12(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act previously required issuers with total assets of $10 million and a class of equity securities held of record by 500 or more persons to register the security with the Securities and Exchange Commission....