Sustainability reporting is evolving fast. As global momentum builds around the endorsement and adoption of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards in key jurisdictions, businesses must act now to...more
In recent years, we have seen more class action securities claims against UK listed companies — akin to US style “stock-drop” litigation. These claims are typically brought by groups of investors, backed by financing...more
Target Audience - Compliance Professionals with detailed knowledge in an area. Such persons are often at a mid-level within the organization, with operational or supervisory responsibilities, or both....more
Pressure from consumers, investors, and regulators to provide climate, environmental, and sustainability disclosures is increasing, but it is important for companies to ensure such disclosures are accurate, verifiable, and...more
Despite the sense of relief that many companies initially felt with the SEC’s stay of its climate disclosure rules, the pause is unlikely to temper the forces demanding climate disclosures by other means. In the latest paper...more
On 23 February 2024, the Investment Association (IA) issued its annual letter to FTSE 350 remuneration committee chairs providing an update on the IA’s Principles of Remuneration and emerging views on remuneration matters....more
In June 2023, The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued its inaugural standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2. These standards are designed to help companies communicate more effectively with investors regarding...more
The UK standards will aim to increase the comparability and value of reported information for investors. The UK government announced on 2 August 2023 that it will develop standards for company sustainability disclosures...more
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), established by the IFRS Foundation (IFRS), issued a comprehensive global baseline of disclosure standards to facilitate consistent and comparable disclosures on risks...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
ClientEarth (an environmental charity) is challenging a decision by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) to approve a prospectus of an energy company on the basis that it contains inadequate climate-related...more
SEC charges executives with insider trading despite purported 10b5-1 plan - On September 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced insider trading charges against both the CEO and the former president of...more
From Amazon to Walmart, companies across the globe are striving to implement ESG initiatives that can stand up to increased scrutiny. The energy industry, like all industries, is facing the possibility of new standards...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules that would require and standardize public companies’ climate-change disclosures to investors. Under the proposed rules, which would apply to both domestic...more
On March 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission released its much-anticipated proposed climate disclosure rule that would require public issuers to provide certain climate-related information in their public filings. ...more
ESG considerations is a key theme that has heavily influenced investments over the past few years and which will no doubt play an even more prominent role in the 2020s. We touched on this briefly in our 2021 closing article...more
The roadmap introduces sustainability disclosure requirements for UK companies and reveals further developments in relation to a UK Green Taxonomy. On 18 October 2021, the UK government released a report titled “Greening...more
A group of 587 institutional investors managing over $46 trillion in assets have signed a new statement calling on governments to undertake five priority actions to accelerate climate investment before COP26, the 26th United...more
The SEC recently issued a public statement asking investors, companies and other market participants to share their views on climate change disclosure. Comments are due by June 13, 2021 and can be submitted via the SEC...more
As society reckons with the enormous danger of climate change, there is no question that corporations must take responsibility for their contributions to rampant global warming, while working to reduce their emissions. For...more
In January 2020, two of the largest asset managers, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) and BlackRock, emphasized that they will hold Boards of Directors accountable for not making significant progress on sustainability and...more