Securities & Capital Markets

Burns & Levinson works closely with public company clients as they navigate the IPO process, access capital markets and grow their businesses. For decades, domestic and international clients—including public companies, investment advisors/broker-dealers, underwriters, family offices, and investment banks—have sought our legal guidance on securities law compliance, capital raising and transactional matters. Our skilled Securities Group provides the timely, efficient, and cost-effective advice that these businesses need to meet even their most challenging objectives. Our Securities Group assists clients of all sizes, including several companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges, with specific expertise representing small and mid-cap issuers in ’33 and ’34 Act matters.

Taking a practical, proactive approach to rapidly changing securities disclosure and corporate governance laws, we identify specific situations in which new laws will impact particular clients and work with them to implement changes necessary for compliance with new regulatory schemes and investor expectations. Our Securities Group attorneys are frequently asked to speak at and participate in securities law conferences, where new rules and regulations are discussed and enacted. Small and mid-cap issuers face unique challenges in financing and regulatory matters, and our depth and wealth of expertise navigating the regulatory framework specific to those issuers allows us to represent public companies throughout the country. We frequently connect clients seeking capital with other clients and contacts able to provide or arrange it for small and mid-cap issuers. This value-added approach positions Burns as the ideal choice for these companies.

Drawing from experience across the firm’s Corporate practice, our team helps clients to access capital to grow their businesses through IPOs and follow-on offerings of equity, debt, and other securities (including shelf registration takedowns); corporate acquisitions involving registered and restricted stock; mergers and acquisitions in which one or both parties are publicly traded; private investment in public equity (PIPE) transactions; equity line-of-credit financings; private placements; venture capital financings; and other complex transactions that raise both practical and technical issues. We have also represented underwriters and placement agents in a variety of public offerings and PIPE transactions.

Our attorneys pre-empt problems for public and private issuers, stockholder groups, and individual investors. Clients seek our assistance with corporate governance, uplisting to national securities exchanges, fulfilling their ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and stock exchange reporting obligations, managing sensitive disclosure issues internally and with industry analysts, preparing proxy statements, and handling stockholder meetings. We regularly advise boards of directors and board committees concerning the requirements and restrictions imposed on their actions by securities and corporate governance laws, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We have a proven track record of serving as special securities counsel to the boards and audit committees of publicly traded companies seeking opinions and advice outside of their regular counsel. In our role as corporate counsel, we craft business solutions to prevent and resolve disputes before they develop into protracted litigation.

Our attorneys help investment advisory and financial services firms and their officers, advisors, broker-dealers, and employees to effectively navigate the business hurdles that they face on a daily basis. These can range from financing and licensing/registration under federal and/or state laws, to operations, compliance, and acquisitions and divestitures.