The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) recently made certain announcements that reflect the current administration’s reduced emphasis on climate-related financial regulation. First, the SEC withdrew a proposed rulemaking...more
On June 17, the SEC officially withdrew a proposed rulemaking undertaken by the Biden Administration that sought to combat greenwashing in ESG (or similarly labeled funds). Specifically, the proposed rule would have...more
Recently, Fitch Ratings issued a discussion paper that outlined a “contemplated framework for the analysis of physical climate risk for [Structured Finance] and [Covered Bonds] for the potential negative implications of...more
6/11/2025
/ Bonds ,
Climate Change ,
Credit Ratings ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management
The SEC’s mandatory climate disclosure rule remains stayed pending the outcome of the current litigation in the Eighth Circuit. Recently, however, Republican SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda suggested that the Trump administration...more
3 Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Labor ("DOL") had issued a rule that permitted ESG factors to be considered when making investments on behalf of 401(k) plans. (This rule had replaced an earlier one from...more
6/2/2025
/ 401k ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
Last week, the State of Maine became the latest state or local government to sue the major fossil fuel companies for damages related to climate change. There are around three dozen lawsuits bringing common law and state tort...more
It has been reported that the Securities & Exchange Commission has disbanded its Climate & ESG Task Force. This same task force had been launched with great fanfare in March 2021, at the beginning of the Biden...more
As of June 2024, Canada added certain provisions to its Competition Act that explicitly target the practice of greenwashing. In particular, according to the Canadian Competition Bureau, these amendments: (1) “requir[e] that...more
On August 12, 2024, three Congressional Democrats (Casten (D-IL); Waters (D-CA); and Senator Whitehouse (D-RI)) sent a letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), inquiring as to “the status of the...more
Earlier this year, the SEC issued its long-awaited regulation concerning mandatory climate disclosures. As expected, this climate disclosure rule was immediately challenged in the courts by, among others, conservative states...more
Regulatory Updates -
Governor Newsom (D-CA) recently proposed a two-year delay to California’s sweeping new mandatory climate disclosures, which apply to all large companies—public or private—doing business in California....more
8/2/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability
Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the appeal from a lower court's decision upholding the Biden Administration's Department of Labor rule enabling ERISA plans to consider ESG factors, ordering...more
2 SEC Commissioner Peirce recently delivered a speech where she extensively criticized the recent emphasis on ESG among businesses, in particular the proliferation of mandatory ESG reporting frameworks. According to...more
It has been reported that the European Central Bank will be imposing fines on as many as four lenders due to “not meeting deadlines set by the ECB for assessing their exposure to climate risks.” Specifically, ECB regulations...more
As recently reported by Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, “the number of climate-related cases filed globally each year has increased from a handful in the early 2000s to a few hundred annually since...more
The European Commission and EU consumer authorities have sent letters to 20 airlines “identifying several types of potentially misleading green claims,” focusing on “claims made by airlines that the CO2 emissions caused by a...more
Earlier this week, the SEC's Division of Examinations released its 2024 examination priorities. While many of these priorities are expected, and reflect the goals articulated by the SEC in prior years, there is a noticeable...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
The past several years has seen growing attention on climate change disclosures and other environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues. In 2016, a variety of universities faced pressure as student bodies demanded...more