Addition Strengthens Capital Markets Practice, Further Positioning Alston & Bird as a Leader in the Domestic and International Regulatory Arena
Legislative changes brought on by the problems in today’s corporate arena, including Sarbanes-Oxley, stricter punishment for white-collar criminals, GAAP accounting changes and the SEC’s new rulings, have left corporations struggling to comply with a shifting regulatory environment. This has increased the demand for well-structured and well-crafted securities compliance and litigation advice. Continuing its leadership in securities law, Alston & Bird has named
Commenting on the appointment,
During his tenure at the SEC, Garris oversaw M&A regulation under the federal securities laws during a period that experienced a record number of M&A transactions, including:
• Mergers;
• Both friendly and hostile tender offers;
• Proxy contests;
• Issuer repurchases and recapitalizations;
• Going-private transactions;
• Debt restructurings; and
• Prepackaged bankruptcies.
As the SEC’s Chief of the Office of Mergers & Acquisitions, Garris supervised the review of all public M&A transactions. Garris oversaw the regulation of both domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. He organized and coordinated the statutory and regulatory interpretive functions of the Division of Corporation Finance as they relate to domestic and international tender offers and business combinations, takeovers, proxy solicitations and proxy contests, going-private transactions, and beneficial ownership reporting. Garris also worked closely with the Division of Enforcement on investigations and litigation cases involving M&A matters.
While at the SEC, Garris was instrumental in establishing regulatory policy. Garris was the architect of the free communication regulatory scheme for business combinations that the SEC adopted in 1999, often referred to as "Regulation M-A". Garris oversaw the adoption of Regulation M-A in its entirety which included, in addition to the free communication rules, early commencement of exchange offers under the Securities Act of 1933 and changes to the disclosure rules for business combinations generally. Garris also oversaw the SEC's adoption of the exemptions to the cross-border tender offer rules in 1999 that have reduced the regulatory burden for tender offers made for foreign companies to be extended to the foreign companies' investors in the United States. In 1998, Garris was responsible for adopting rules under Section 13(d), the beneficial ownership reporting statute, which created a new filing category to ease the burden of filing for shareholders that do not have a control-related investment purpose.
A frequent speaker at national Practicing Law Institute (PLI) seminars, the American Bar Association’s Business Section meetings, the International Bar Association’s conferences and a variety of other nationally and internationally prominent seminars and conferences, Garris is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Legislative changes brought on by the problems in today’s corporate arena, including Sarbanes-Oxley, stricter punishment for white-collar criminals, GAAP accounting changes and the SEC’s new rulings, have left corporations struggling to comply with a shifting regulatory environment. This has increased the demand for well-structured and well-crafted securities compliance and litigation advice. Continuing its leadership in securities law, Alston & Bird has named
Commenting on the appointment,
During his tenure at the SEC, Garris oversaw M&A regulation under the federal securities laws during a period that experienced a record number of M&A transactions, including:
• Mergers;
• Both friendly and hostile tender offers;
• Proxy contests;
• Issuer repurchases and recapitalizations;
• Going-private transactions;
• Debt restructurings; and
• Prepackaged bankruptcies.
As the SEC’s Chief of the Office of Mergers & Acquisitions, Garris supervised the review of all public M&A transactions. Garris oversaw the regulation of both domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. He organized and coordinated the statutory and regulatory interpretive functions of the Division of Corporation Finance as they relate to domestic and international tender offers and business combinations, takeovers, proxy solicitations and proxy contests, going-private transactions, and beneficial ownership reporting. Garris also worked closely with the Division of Enforcement on investigations and litigation cases involving M&A matters.
While at the SEC, Garris was instrumental in establishing regulatory policy. Garris was the architect of the free communication regulatory scheme for business combinations that the SEC adopted in 1999, often referred to as "Regulation M-A". Garris oversaw the adoption of Regulation M-A in its entirety which included, in addition to the free communication rules, early commencement of exchange offers under the Securities Act of 1933 and changes to the disclosure rules for business combinations generally. Garris also oversaw the SEC's adoption of the exemptions to the cross-border tender offer rules in 1999 that have reduced the regulatory burden for tender offers made for foreign companies to be extended to the foreign companies' investors in the United States. In 1998, Garris was responsible for adopting rules under Section 13(d), the beneficial ownership reporting statute, which created a new filing category to ease the burden of filing for shareholders that do not have a control-related investment purpose.
A frequent speaker at national Practicing Law Institute (PLI) seminars, the American Bar Association’s Business Section meetings, the International Bar Association’s conferences and a variety of other nationally and internationally prominent seminars and conferences, Garris is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.