On September 17, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) issued a policy statement clarifying that its decision whether to accelerate the effectiveness of a registration statement for a securities offering will not be affected by the presence of a provision requiring arbitration of investor claims arising under federal securities laws. In the past, the Commission had declined to accelerate registration statements that contained mandatory arbitration provisions. The Commission indicated that, going forward, it will focus on evaluating the adequacy of registration statement disclosures, including issuer-investor mandatory arbitration provisions. The Commission also amended Rule 431 of its Rules of Practice to provide that any challenge to such an acceleration decision, which the Commission delegates to staff, will not automatically stay the acceleration decision.
A detailed discussion of this policy statement can be found on Insights, read more here.
Key contacts
Christian Leathley
Partner, Head of International Arbitration, US, London, New York and Latin America Group
Amal Bouchenaki
Partner, New York, Latin America Group and Africa Group
Marco de Sousa
Partner, New York
John O'Donnell
Partner, New York
Todd E. Lenson
Partner, Head of Equity Capital Markets and Public Companies, US, New York
Daniel F. Zimmerman
Partner, New York
Alan R. Friedman
Counsel, New York
Hannah Kanter
Associate, New York
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