A&O Shearman was formed in 2024 via the merger of two historic firms, Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling. With nearly 4,000 lawyers globally, we are equally fluent in English law, U.S. law and the laws of the world’s most dynamic markets.
This combination creates a new kind of law firm, one built to achieve unparalleled outcomes for our clients on their most complex, multijurisdictional matters – everywhere in the world. A firm that advises at the forefront of the forces changing the current of global business and that is unrivalled in its global strength.
Our clients benefit from the collective experience of teams who work with many of the world’s most influential companies and institutions, and have a history of precedent-setting innovations.
Together our lawyers advise more than a third of NYSE-listed businesses, a fifth of the NASDAQ and a notable proportion of the London Stock Exchange, the Euronext, Euronext Paris and the Tokyo and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.
The JumpStart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, commonly known as the JOBS Act, sought to make it easier for smaller companies to access the public capital markets by relaxing restrictions ...
The JumpStart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, commonly known
as the JOBS Act, sought to make it easier for smaller companies to
access the public capital markets by relaxing restrictions on
pre-IPO communications and allowing "emerging growth
companies" (companies with less than $1 billion in annual
turnover) to pursue limited private discussions with institutional
or accredited investors to gauge their interests in a potential
IPO, known as "testing the waters." The provision was
intended to allow companies to gain a better sense of whether to
pursue an offering without violating pre-IPO communications
restrictions.
The SEC has announced it is considering giving all companies
access to "testing the waters" benefits. Bill Hinman, SEC
Division of Corporation Finance, stated that there is no specific
timeline to put such plans into effect for all companies but that
the agency does not expect implementation to take an
"inordinate time."
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