Today, Governor DeSantis (R-FL) signed into law an anti-ESG bill that, among other things, bars managers of the state's pension fund from considering ESG factors when making investments. Instead, pecuniary factors are the...more
SEC Commissioner Lizarraga, one of the recent Democratic appointees to the Securities & Exchange Commission, delivered a speech on April 18 at the annual public policy symposium of the North American Securities Administrators...more
State and Local ESG Regulation.
Despite recent public statements by notable Republican federal officials, including an SEC Commissioner, that have expressed considerable skepticism towards the SEC’s proposed ESG...more
Today, President Biden issued the first veto of his presidency. This action had been heavily telegraphed in advance and was widely expected. Nonetheless, this veto is extraordinarily significant....more
Last month, the SEC issued its list of examination priorities for 2023. Among the list of six priorities identified by the SEC in its press release was "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)." Specifically, the SEC...more
In a recent lecture delivered at Columbia Law School/Business School at the "Going Public in the 2020s" conference, SEC Commissioner Uyeda bemoaned "the general decline in the number of public companies over the past...more
Last fall, the Biden Administration's Department of Labor ("DOL") issued a regulation ("Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights") that, according to a White House press release,...more
As we have noted previously, a number of Republican politicians had previously identified antitrust law as a potential counter to ESG efforts, particularly if companies began to coordinate a response to climate change. Even...more
The State of Kentucky, like many other states across the country, is now engaged in significant conflict over the politicized issue of ESG investing. Last spring, the Kentucky legislature passed a bill ordering that the...more
Last week, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (R-NC), "announced the formation of a Republican Working Group" composed of nine (9) Republican congressmen and "led by Oversight and...more
Three bills have recently been proposed by a trio of California state legislators concerning ESG financial disclosures and investing. The first, SB 253, would "require all large corporations that do business in California to...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
This week, Florida CFO Patronis directed "all participating asset managers to remove ESG investment funds as options for participants in the Deferred Compensation Plan." In effect, Patronis has now barred investments in ESG...more
Last week, it was reported that the Texas Attorney General would "not approve any public security" which was purchased or issued by a major bank due to alleged discrimination against the firearms sector. In 2021, Texas had...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)
S&P recently purchased Shades of Green, which has been described as "the largest external reviewer of sustainable bond and green financing frameworks." This acquisition emphasizes the recent strategic move by major ratings...more
SEC Enforcement: In its yearly summary of enforcement activity, the SEC chose to highlight ESG-related issues as one of only a handful of subject matter areas that the SEC is focused on, indicating the significant priority...more
12/14/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
The SEC recently announced its yearly summary of enforcement activity. Among the items it chose to highlight were its efforts to enforce ESG-related issues. ESG was one of only a handful of subject matter areas that the SEC...more
Yesterday, the Department of Labor "released a final rule under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) . . . [that] clarif[ied] that fiduciaries may consider climate change and other environmental, social, and...more
Last Thursday, five Republican senators--Cotton (AR), Grassley (IA), Rubio (FL), Lee (UT), and Blackburn (TN)--sent an identical letter to approximately fifty (50) major U.S. law firms, in which they stated that law firms...more
Earlier this month, the SEC issued an FAQ concerning "an adviser's fiduciary duty when considering factors relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the selection or recommendation of other investment advisers."...more
Regulatory Developments Among State AGs. Over the past few weeks, various state attorneys general have either issued guidance or initiated enforcement actions in connection with ESG ratings. Specifically, among other things,...more
Today's edition of the New York Times featured an opinion piece that critiqued ESG investing--and not from the perspective that "values" investing is economically counter-productive. (For that viewpoint, the editorial page...more
In remarks delivered today to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee, SEC Commissioner Pierce--one of the Republican appointees to the Commission--offered a critique of the proposed SEC rule re: "greenwashing," which is the...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