Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2023

We have once again asked our colleagues from around our firm to boil down the issues in their fields that boards of directors and senior management of public companies will be facing in the coming year. In the following pages, we present the results for 2023 – focused updates on 18 topics that will surely feature at the top of board agendas throughout the year.

The concerns and practices of public companies are evolving rapidly, driven in part by changing expectations on the part of institutional investors and other stakeholders, in part by cultural and political changes and in part by volatile economic conditions as we emerge from the pandemic. We explore this evolution from several different angles with respect to ESG and sustainability, transaction activity and shareholder and activist engagements.

Other topics stem from the agendas of regulators. 2022 was a notable year for developments in securities regulation, tax, antitrust, sanctions, cybersecurity and privacy and enforcement agency agendas. As Congress remains mired in political skirmishes, we expect 2023 to again be a big year for regulatory rulemaking. Already this year the Federal Trade Commission released proposed rules to ban non-compete provisions from employment contracts – see our Alert on the proposal here. Similarly, European regulatory developments are continuing to drive board agendas, in areas like tax, competition and sustainability. In all of these areas, enforcement risk is on the rise and board oversight and thoughtful considerations of board structure are more critical than ever.

We invite you to review these topics by clicking on the headings listed below. A PDF of the memo can be downloaded, here.