The first half of 2024 was eventful in the world of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”). Although ESG continued to lose the market tailwinds that have pushed it forward in recent years, regulatory pressures both...more
10/18/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenwashing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability
After much anticipation, on March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—mandating...more
3/29/2024
/ Business Development Companies ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Form S-8 ,
MD&A Statements ,
PSLRA ,
Regulation S-K ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Following a nearly two-year wait, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—on March 6, 2024. The...more
3/18/2024
/ Administrative Stay ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Following a nearly two-year wait, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—on March 6, 2024. The...more
3/8/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Renewable Energy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Join climate bill-sponsor California State Senator Wiener at this V&E and PwC co-hosted CLE program covering what you should know about the new California Climate Disclosure laws....more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
10/13/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
BlackRock ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clawbacks ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Insider Trading ,
NYSE ,
Private Funds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Quarterly Report ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
As public companies anticipate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) final climate disclosure rules, which are expected to be released sometime fourth quarter of 2023, California has beaten the federal government...more
As public companies anticipate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) final climate disclosure rules, which are expected to be released sometime fourth quarter of 2023, California has beaten the federal government...more
9/28/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Insurance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
On July 26, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted to approve final rules governing cybersecurity disclosures of public companies (“Final Rules”). The Final Rules make meaningful changes to the current and...more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
7/13/2023
/ C&DIs ,
Climate Change ,
COSO ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Divestment ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Nasdaq ,
No-Action Letters ,
NYSE ,
Proxy Season ,
Repurchases ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Universal Proxy Cards
Final rules to modernize share repurchase disclosure will go into effect for the first periodic report that covers the first full fiscal quarter that begins on or after October 1, 2023. For calendar-year companies, that first...more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
4/4/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Brokers ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Nasdaq ,
Non-Voting Shares ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
On October 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted Rule 10D-1, a rule requiring companies to recover erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation based on mistakes in the companies’ financial...more
In this program, we will focus on SEC developments affecting, and practical aspects of preparing for, public companies’ annual meetings and annual reports, including compensation, shareholder proposals and corporate...more
11/4/2022
/ Annual Meeting ,
Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Compensation ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Ethics ,
MD&A Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Sustainability ,
Webinars
A technological error in the online comment portal on sec.gov has prevented the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) from receiving comments on twelve rule proposals (the “Affected Proposals”), according to a new SEC...more
On August 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced that it adopted a final rule requiring companies to disclose information that is intended to reflect the relationship between compensation paid...more
9/14/2022
/ CD&A ,
Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Executive Compensation ,
Foreign Private Issuers ,
GAAP ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Principal Executive Officer ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholders ,
Smaller Reporting Companies ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
On March 30, 2022, the commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved much-anticipated proposed rules relating to special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”)....more
On March 21, 2022, the SEC issued a Proposing Release setting out sweeping new requirements for climate change disclosures. If finalized as proposed, these climate disclosure rules would require dramatic changes to corporate...more
4/11/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
ICFR ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation S-K ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released a proposed rule on March 21, 2022, that would require U.S. and foreign private issuers to provide certain climate-related information in their registration statements...more
The amount of money invested in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds has increased exponentially in the past year, and as banks and investors increasingly turn their attention to ESG factors, companies are also...more
6/2/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Borrowers ,
Capital Investments ,
Clean Energy ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Documentation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financing ,
Green Bonds ,
Green Buildings ,
Green Finance ,
Green Infrastructure ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Pollution Control ,
Popular ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy ,
Waste Management ,
Wastewater
On Thursday, January 21, President Biden announced that Democratic SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee will serve as acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”). As a reminder,...more
On August 26, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments to Items 101, 103 and 105 of Regulation S-K. Though the SEC has made changes to certain parts of Regulation S-K over the past few years,1...more