The Missouri Attorney-General, Republican Andrew Bailey, recently announced an investigation into the two principal proxy advisory firms for potential violations of Missouri law “related to their promotion of radical...more
Last Friday, on June 20, the SEC withdrew guidance--dating from the George W. Bush administration--that indicated that “disclosure of environmental actions brought by a foreign government” was “require[d].” In effect, the...more
6/25/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
In the first Trump Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission promulgated certain rules that had the effect of erecting barriers to activist investors seeking to have shareholder proposals--often involving topics...more
The Trump administration’s SEC has begun the process of undoing the mandatory climate disclosure rule promulgated by the SEC under the Biden administration. Specifically, the SEC has now asked the Eighth Circuit — where the...more
4 Last week, a federal district judge in the Northern District of Texas upheld a rule promulgated by the Biden Administration's Department of Labor enabling ESG-focused investing. Specifically, the court determined that the...more
In June 2023, Mintz published an article entitled “A Quantitative Analysis of Comment Letters Issued by the SEC Concerning Climate Change Disclosures” (the June 2023 Article), which analyzed the comment letters related to...more
2/20/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
Over the past several weeks, each of the major US banks have announced their withdrawal from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (presumably in response to the policy priorities of the second Trump Administration). Although...more
Following a bench trial, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) held that “that Defendants breached their fiduciary duty by failing to loyally act solely in the retirement plan's best financial interests by allowing their corporate...more
1/13/2025
/ 401k ,
BlackRock ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Governance ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sustainability
On June 4, 2024, a number of Congressional Democrats (10 Senators; 28 Congressmen) sent a letter to Chairman Gensler of the Securities & Exchange Commission, urging that the SEC “enforce[] [] existing SEC climate...more
With environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles garnering increased attention in corporate circles in recent years, there has been an accompanying rise in demand for analytical products that evaluate companies’...more
5/21/2024
/ Asset Management ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investors ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Stakeholder Engagement
A number of significant regulatory, legal, market, and ESG-related developments and issues will affect how public companies approach the upcoming year-end reporting process. As in past years, Mintz has prepared an in-depth...more
12/18/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Clawbacks ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 8-K ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Meetings ,
Trading Plans ,
Year-End Planning
The Mintz Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group developed this ESG primer to provide an overview of the current state of affairs in the United States with respect to the ESG issues that businesses...more
10/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Antiboycott Requirements ,
Boycotts ,
CFTC ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
New Regulations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
Last week, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled "Protecting Investor Interests: Examining Environmental and Social Policy in Financial Regulation." As indicated by the title of the hearing, the...more
Much of the current debate about ESG initiatives and how companies consider the impact of climate change on their operations appears to operate in a vacuum, untethered to the real world, where pundits and politicians opine on...more
Last week, SEC Commissioner Uyeda delivered an address in which he "focus[ed] on issues related to asset managers' use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment strategies." While his talk addressed many...more
Recent developments in the Court of Chancery concerning a corporate board’s duty to monitor and provide oversight over a corporation’s operations, so-called Caremark claims, are likely to intersect with the Securities and...more
12/19/2022
/ Caremark claim ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Discovery ,
Duty to Monitor ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Public companies initiating the year-end reporting process will need to consider, and in many cases take steps to address, a number of significant developments and issues. To assist companies in this process, Mintz has...more
12/9/2022
/ Annual Meeting ,
Breach of Duty ,
Clawbacks ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Insider Trading ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Stock Markets ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine
Regulatory Developments. During the past month, there have been two notable developments in connection with the SEC’s proposed climate disclosures rule — “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for...more
During the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the nomination of Delaware Supreme Court Justice Montgomery-Reeves to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, certain Republican Senators, including Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lee...more
Recently, the SEC issued its five-year strategic plan for public comment. This strategic plan covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from adapting to new technology to plans for increasing internal SEC workforce...more
8/31/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Investors ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Strategic Planning
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) unveiled its long-anticipated proposed rules on climate disclosures, entitled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for...more
3/31/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
GHG Auction ,
Proposed Rules ,
PSLRA ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
It has been publicly reported that the Dallas office of the SEC is currently engaged in an investigation of ESG disclosures by companies doing business with state government entities in Texas. Specifically, the SEC is...more
Yesterday, SEC Commissioner Pierce--one of two Republicans serving as an SEC Commissioner--delivered a speech criticizing the "potential ESG rulemaking."...more
On Friday, SEC Chairman Gensler announced the appointment of five lawyers to his policy staff. Among them is one individual--Mika Morse, who previously worked for Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)--with the title of "climate...more
Last week, one of the primary topics at the July 7th meeting of the SEC's Asset Management Advisory Committee was ESG disclosures. Indeed, according to the discussion draft of the relevant subcommittee, certain specific...more