Sarah Raskin, the Biden Administration's nominee to be the Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision, has faced significant questioning by Republican senators based upon her past remarks concerning the role of financial...more
Yesterday, Judge Contreras of the D.C. District Court vacated oil and gas drilling licenses for the Gulf of Mexico issued in connection with a sale by the Department of the Interior. Specifically, the court held that the...more
In his annual letter to CEOs, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink asked that CEOs "issue reports consistent with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures." As the head of the biggest asset manager in the world, Fink's...more
Last week, the CEO of State Street Global Advisors--one of the largest investment managers--issued a letter to corporate boards of directors announcing a series of priorities with respect to the companies in which it invests....more
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
The federal district court in Delaware has remanded the climate change lawsuit filed by the State of Delaware against a variety of fossil fuel companies (including the oil majors) to state court. This lawsuit is one of the...more
John Galloway, the global head of investment stewardship at Vanguard, Inc.--one of the preeminent index fund managers in the United States--recently announced a set of expected climate-focused disclosures that Vanguard...more
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced a plan to compel companies to issue climate-related financial disclosures. Specifically, Prime Minister Trudeau sent mandate letters to Deputy Prime Minister and...more
Today, UBS Asset Management announced that it would divest from five energy companies, including ExxonMobil, because these companies are not adequately addressing climate change concerns.
This action by a private sector...more
Last week, SEC Commissioner Crenshaw--one of the Democratic members of the SEC Commission--addressed the Center for American Progress and the Sierra Club, and availed herself of the opportunity to once again vocally express...more
Yesterday, the Singapore Exchange announced that "[a]ll issuers must provide climate reporting on a 'comply or explain' basis in their sustainability reports" stating in FY 2022, and that these "climate-related disclosures"...more
Yesterday, SEC Commissioner Pierce--one of two Republican SEC Commissioners--availed herself of the opportunity presented by a statement concerning the budget of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB") to...more
This week, the SEC's Acting Chief Accountant, Paul Munter, issued a statement concerning "High Quality Financial Reporting in a Complex Environment." This statement touched on a number of matters, including the...more
In a recent speech, SEC Commissioner Crenshaw, one of the Democratic appointees to the Commission, focused on the role internal controls play in assessing and monitoring ESG risks. Specifically, after noting that the SEC...more
SEC Chairman Gensler, in a set of prepared remarks before the Investor Advisory Committee that focused on cryptocurrency, nonetheless availed himself of the opportunity to once again emphasize that "investors . . . are...more
The New York State Department of Financial Services ("DFS")--one of the primary state regulatory authorities in New York--has now issued guidance to insurers concerning managing the risks associated with climate change. This...more
Fitch Ratings, one of the three major credit rating agencies, recently issued a report noting the increasing use of ESG metrics in credit agreements. As the report notes, these provisions are only now being incorporated into...more
The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, the non-profit foundation that oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, has announced the creation of the "International Sustainability Standards...more
This week, the SEC issued a new staff legal bulletin concerning shareholder proposals, which stated, as a matter of SEC policy, that proposals "request[ing] companies adopt timeframes or targets to address climate change" are...more
The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear an appeal of the D.C. Circuit's decision to strike down Trump-era restrictions--which were quite weak--on coal-burning power plants. The Court's ruling here may limit the ability of...more
The United Kingdom recently published "Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing." This document reflects and incorporates a number of environmental initiatives, including the principle that "[t]he financial...more
Climate change poses many risks. For companies, besides the physical impact of climate change itself, this risk is often embodied by regulatory pressure imposed by government agencies or other entities exercising oversight...more
On October 20th, SEC Commissioner Lee delivered a speech focused on the regulations concerning climate disclosures that the SEC is expected to issue soon. (Indeed, Commissioner Lee emphasized that these regulations are...more
Last week, during a program on "Building the Financial System of the 21st Century," in the course of a speech principally focused on various market risks, SEC Commissioner Crenshaw nonetheless availed herself of the...more
Yesterday, the SEC released a sample letter to companies concerning climate change disclosures. Relying upon the guidance the SEC issued over ten years ago--the 2010 Climate Change Guidance--the SEC noted that certain...more