1 The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York recently launched a criminal prosecution in connection with “a scheme to commit fraud in the carbon markets,” specifically that a company and its executives...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
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
Earlier this week, a state court judge in Oklahoma issued a temporary restraining order that blocks--for now--enforcement of an Oklahoma law that deprives companies deemed to boycott the fossil fuel industry of the ability to...more
The Mintz Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group developed this ESG primer to provide an overview of the current state of affairs in the United States with respect to the ESG issues that businesses...more
10/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Antiboycott Requirements ,
Boycotts ,
CFTC ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
New Regulations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
Climate Change Litigation: Beginning in 2017, an array of state and local governments began pursuing claims against major fossil fuel producers — particularly the major oil companies (Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, and...more
SEC Enforcement: In its yearly summary of enforcement activity, the SEC chose to highlight ESG-related issues as one of only a handful of subject matter areas that the SEC is focused on, indicating the significant priority...more
12/14/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
The SEC recently announced its yearly summary of enforcement activity. Among the items it chose to highlight were its efforts to enforce ESG-related issues. ESG was one of only a handful of subject matter areas that the SEC...more
Today, the SEC issued two complementary press releases announcing certain proposed rules. First, the SEC announced "proposed amendments to enhance and modernize the Investment Company Act 'Names Rule'" that would "extend the...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
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