Proposed Amendments to Rule 701 and Form S-8; Proposed Temporary Rule for Certain Equity-Based Compensation Grants

On November 24, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed for comment amendments to Rule 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, which is the exemption from the registration requirements relied upon most frequently by non-reporting companies in connection with their issuances of stock-based compensation to employees, as well as amendments to the Form S-8 registration statement, which is used to register compensatory offerings by reporting companies. In a separate release also issued on November 24, 2020, the SEC has proposed to expand Rule 701 and the use of Form S-8 to facilitate compensatory transactions with platform workers for a five-year period.