New DOL Fiduciary Rule

Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP is pleased to invite you to join us for the next installment of the Colorado Compliance Roundtable Breakfast Series. The series is open to all investment adviser compliance professionals and service providers. Each installment is designed to assist with a particular aspect of the evolving regulatory and business landscape.

This series offers a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, questions, and best practices with local compliance professionals, attorneys, and compliance consultants in an interactive, candid, small-group setting.

On April 6th, the Department of Labor (DoL) released the long-awaited final “fiduciary rule” which sets a new standard for advice given to retirement investors. Under the final rule, financial advisors who provide investment advice with respect to retirement-type assets will face regulatory requirements, including conditions on the receipt of commission-based compensation.
Issues to be addressed include:

• Who is a “fiduciary” under the final rule?
• What are a fiduciary’s duties to the client?
• What clients are covered?
• What transactions are covered?
• What is a “recommendation”?
• How can business be structured to comply with the final rule?
• What are the legal remedies available under the final rule?

Our speakers for this program will include:

• Rachel James, Partner, Davis Graham
• Peter Schwartz, Partner, Davis Graham

Presentation Materials

Turning your idea into a business, then growing and managing it, comes with many challenges and opportunities and sifting through tons of legal information can be confusing and exhausting. That is why Davis Graham is holding “Office Hours” at Foundry Group in Boulder – our team will be available to provide useful legal information – for free – to entrepreneurs and others on the journey of founding, growing, managing, and exiting their businesses.

Office Hours will be held once a month at Foundry Group located at 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 210, in Boulder. Our next available date is Friday, December 2 from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Let us know if you’d like to stop by. Our door is always open and no appointment is necessary, but knowing a little more about you is always helpful.

Beyond the Clean Power Plan

Climate change considerations are taking an increasing role throughout Colorado, presenting many legal and policy challenges. This seminar will cover a spectrum of topics on emerging climate issues in Colorado – beyond the Clean Power Plan, which has received much focus. Topics to be addressed include:

• Pending PUC proceedings and impacts on renewable energy development
• Colorado’s Water Plan and Climate Action Initiatives – Planning at the State Government level
• What should companies do to comply with SEC disclosure obligations related to climate change?
• Voluntary and shareholder-driven corporate initiatives to address climate change (e.g., distributed solar)

Speakers will include:

• Representative Max Tyler, Colorado Legislature, Lakewood
• Rebecca Mitchell, Supply Planning Section Chief, Colorado Water Conservation Board
• John Elofson, Partner, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP
• Roger Freeman, Partner, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP

Event Information

May 25, 2016

1550 17th Street
Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202

7:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:00 AM | Program

Presentation Materials

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has updated its rule on employee exposure to crystalline silica. Please join us for a panel discussion of the new rule and its impacts on construction and oil and gas operations. Topics will include:

• Who is covered by the rule?
• What does the rule say?
• What types of construction activities are covered?
• How does the rule affect the oil and gas industry?
• What are industry’s greatest concerns and how do they play out in the rule?
• How does the rule apply to owners and contractors – who is responsible?
• What are the liability risks and implications of silica exposure?

Please join us for a briefing on two areas of misconduct that can create risk for an employer: workplace violence and misuse and theft of company property, including electronic information. This briefing will discuss:

• Violence in the workplace by employees and third parties that affects the workplace
• Department of Labor, OSHA, EEOC, Division of Workers’ Compensation, and other government agencies that get involved in workplace violence
• Employee misuse and taking of company property, including electronic information
• How an employer can proactively prevent employee misuse and taking of company property, and what to do when such misconduct is discovered by an employer

Our speakers for this program are:

• Brett Painter, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP
• Janet Savage, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP

Sybil Kisken will provide a brief introduction.

Event Information

May 5, 2016
1550 17th Street
Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202

7:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:00 AM | Program

Presentation Materials

Please join us and your energy peers at our fourth annual Energy M&A and Financing Forum. Attendees will get an in-depth look at the issues sure to impact M&A and financing in the energy sector in 2016.

Discussions will cover a range of topics, including:

• Restructuring and M&A in a Distressed Environment
• The Latest on Local Control and Environmental Regulation
• Survey Terms of 2015 Oil & Gas Deals
• Current Financing Issues & Options
• The Petroleum Industry Resets – Perspectives on the Road Ahead

The Keynote Address will be given by Stephen Trammel of IHS.

Event Information

Full Agenda

Presentation Materials

April 20, 2016

1:00-1:15 PM | Registration
1:15-5:00 PM | Program
5:00-6:00 PM | Cocktail Reception

On the heels of EPA’s proposed regulations to further curb methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry, on February 8th BLM published its much anticipated “venting and flaring” rule. The proposed rule-which marks the first time since 1980 that the Agency has updated its royalty and compensation structure for lost gas (i.e., NTL-4a)-promises to have far-reaching impacts for companies operating on Federal and Indian leases. Please join our panel for a discussion of BLM’s proposed rule and what it might mean for your company. Topic will include:

• Putting the rule into context: how we got here, and why now;
• Analysis of key provisions of the proposed rule, including changes to the definitions of avoidably and unavoidably lost gas and the effects on royalty obligations, novel gas capture plan requirements, caps on flaring volumes, and new leak detection and repair requirements (among others);
• Discussion of how the rule may impact your operations, including changes to existing policy on whether vented or flared gas is subject to royalties;
• Initial thoughts about areas to focus on during public comment, including BLM’s cost/benefit approach, concerns about duplicative regulatory programs, and statutory jurisdictional considerations.

Speakers for this program with include:

• Rob Mathes, Partner, Davis Graham
• Katie Schroder, Partner, Davis Graham
• Eric Waeckerlin, Partner, Davis Graham
• Chelsea Grossi, Associate, Davis Graham

Introductory remarks will be provided by Davis Graham Partner, Connie Rogers

Event Information

March 10, 2016

1550 17th Street
Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202

7:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:00 AM | Program

Presentation Materials

As the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission recently noted, “the dramatic increase in earthquake activity in the midcontinent since 2009 has focused attention on the potential hazard posed by earthquake induced injection.” States are adopting new regulatory requirements to address seismic concerns, and last month the Sierra Club filed a first-of-its-kind RCRA lawsuit over this issue. Please join us for a discussion of these developments, which will cover:

• An introduction to the evolving science of injection-induced earthquakes, with examples from Colorado and nearby states
• COGCC requirements that address the potential for induced earthquakes
• Regulatory strategies developed by other states and provinces as well as pending litigation on this subject

Speakers for this program will include:

• Stuart Ellsworth, Engineering Manager, COGCC
• Brenna Finn, Associate, Davis Graham
• Dave Neslin, Of Counsel, Davis Graham
• Anne Sheehan, Professor Geological Sciences, CIRES of CU Boulder

Event Information

April 12, 2016

1550 17th Street
Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202

7:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:00 AM | Program

Presentation Materials

Join us for a discussion of the new COGCC rules to implement Governor’s Task Force Recommendations 17 and 20. Topics will include:

• New rules governing the development of large scale facilities in urban mitigation areas
• New rules governing the submittal of certain information to municipalities
• Lessons learned from the rulemaking
• Implications for future development in and near urban areas

Speakers for this program will include:

• John Jacus, Partner, Davis Graham
• Dave Neslin, Of Counsel, Davis Graham
• Greg Nibert, Associate, Davis Graham

Event Information

February 3, 2016

7:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:00 AM | Program

Presentation Materials

Supplemental Materials

• Final Draft Rules
• Draft Statement of Basis and Purpose
• Cover Letter and Proposed Revisions
• COGCC Staff Hearing Presentation

Please join Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Tom McGimpsey of Advanced Energy Industries, David Harkin of J.P. Morgan Investment Banking New York, Chad Stowe of Hein and Associates, and your public company peers for our 10th Annual Update.

Discussions will cover a range of topics, including:

• Shareholder Activism
  • Discussion of current activism environment
  • How to prepare for 2016: Review of recent market developments and key cases
• Cybersecurity
  • SEC enforcement trends
  • Emerging challenges for 2016
  • Review of recent SEC comments
• Securities and Capital Markets Update
  • Equity and debt issuances 2016: Legal developments
  • Executive compensation rule changes

Full Agenda

Presentation Materials

Event Information

January 7, 2016

7:30 AM | Breakfast & Registration
8:00-10:30 AM | Program

The Ritz-Carlton
1881 Curtis Street
Denver, CO 80202