It is likely that a trend will emerge in the coming months of cancelled transactions leading to litigation as to whether the impact of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) amounts to a “disaster” or a force majeure under various agreements. Standard underwriting agreements contain termination provisions, some of which may be triggered by COVID-19.
Institutional Investor Services (“ISS”) and Glass Lewis have released their updates to proxy voting guidelines for 2020. These guidelines shape the recommendations both bodies will give in reports concerning specific issuers which are often followed by institutional investors. For issuers with an institutional investor as a majority shareholder, these guidelines can be determinative
