On Wednesday, August 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an order denying plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin California’s Climate Corporate Data...more
8/15/2025
/ Amended Legislation ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
First Amendment ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legal History ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Supremacy Clause
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced last week that it will hold its second virtual public workshop to support the development of California’s Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, established by Senate...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains updates and important reminders on...more
8/6/2025
/ Bylaws ,
CDIs ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Federal Funding ,
Form 10-Q ,
Forum Selection ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
MD&A Statements ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Factors ,
Schedule 13D ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins ,
Tariffs ,
US Trade Policies
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) controversial climate disclosure rules have been essentially dead since last March, when the SEC voted to end its defense of the rules. ...more
7/25/2025
/ Appeals ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Judicial Review ,
Pending Litigation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Authority
Companies doing business in Texas and California should be aware of the following state law developments, which could affect them....more
7/21/2025
/ CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders
On July 9, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a set of Frequently Asked Questions regarding California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB...more
New York has failed to adopt climate reporting requirements in the 2025 legislative session, according to Forbes. ...more
On May 29, 2025, The California Air Resources Board (CARB) held a virtual workshop to “support the development of California’s Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program” reflected in the Climate Corporate Data Accountability...more
On April 24, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ordered that the litigation challenging the validity of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) climate disclosure rule be “held in abeyance pending...more
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced that it will hold a virtual public workshop to “support the development of California’s Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program,” as reflected in The Climate...more
5/1/2025
/ CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
On April 8, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order “aimed at securing America’s energy dominance by removing unlawful and burdensome state-level impediments to domestic energy production.”...more
4/10/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Preemption ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration
On March 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to end its defense of the climate disclosure rules it adopted last year that would have required publicly traded companies disclose climate-related risks and...more
On February 26, 2025, the Commission announced that it has adopted a new omnibus package of proposals designed to “simplify EU rules, boost competitiveness, and unlock additional investment capacity.” Commission President...more
3/3/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Parliament ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Taxonomy
On February 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a motion to dismiss filed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), dismissing plaintiffs’ claims that SB 253 (the Climate...more
2/10/2025
/ CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Commerce Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dismissals ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
First Amendment ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Supremacy Clause
As in-scope companies prepare to begin publishing climate disclosures in California in 2026 (assuming these laws survive the ongoing litigation), New York State has taken steps to follow California’s lead by introducing two...more
Stanford Business recently posted an interesting article describing the results of a three-year study conducted to analyze American retail investors' attitudes toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues....more
In yet another example of the United States' federal pull back on climate change disclosure laws, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council on Monday withdrew a proposed rule titled “Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions...more
1/17/2025
/ CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Suppliers ,
Sustainability
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not hear an appeal from certain major oil and gas companies to dismiss a lawsuit by the city of Honolulu seeking to hold the companies responsible for the impacts of...more
1/16/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Litigation ,
False Advertising ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenwashing ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
State and Local Government
ESG Dive posted an interesting article yesterday on trends to watch in 2025. With the upcoming change in presidential administrations, some are predicting a course reversal on ESG; however, as this article notes, although we...more
1/13/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
Renewable Energy ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability
In a 6-1 ruling yesterday, Montana’s Supreme Court upheld a landmark decision finding that a 2011 state law making it illegal to consider environmental impacts (including greenhouse gas emissions) when issuing permits for...more
On Monday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued an Information Solicitation to Inform Implementation of California Senate Bills 253 and 261, as amended by SB 219....more
The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (the Alliance), an influential coalition of pension funds and insurance companies holding a combined $9.5 trillion in assets, released a report on Wednesday calling on regulators worldwide to...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently reported on trends in corporate political activity disclosures and related shareholder proposals over the past decade, noting that “[o]ver the past decade, shareholder...more
11/22/2024
/ Citizens United ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Lobbying ,
Political Contributions ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Transparency
Last week global professional services firm Accenture published its fourth annual Destination Net Zero report, in which it examined the decarbonization efforts and progress of the 2,000 largest public and private companies by...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently released its “U.S. Shareholder Proposals: A Decade in Motion,” in which it examines trends in shareholder proposals submitted at U.S. companies from July 2014 to June 2024, as...more