Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that, after conducting a “preliminary review” of ESG benchmarks, “the overall quality of ESG-related disclosures made by benchmark administrators was poor” and...more
According to a new survey, most large companies are preparing to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed climate disclosure rule even though it is not final, but many business leaders are concerned...more
4/7/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
More than 1,400 individual investors have signed a letter asserting that a large U.S.-based asset manager is violating its fiduciary duty to mitigate climate-related investment risks....more
On March 7, 2023, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (“OSFI”), the Canadian government agency responsible for supervising federally-regulated financial institutions (“FRFI”) and insurance companies,...more
3/31/2023
/ Banks ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FRFI ,
New Guidance ,
OSFI ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation paper (Consultation Paper) last month seeking public comment on three topics: (1) ESG disclosure; (2) ESG ratings; and (3) ESG investing by mutual...more
3/24/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Consultation Papers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
India ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Mutual Funds ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities Regulation
On March 16, 2023 the Republican governors of 19 states announced an alliance led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to “push back against President Biden’s environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG) agenda that is...more
3/22/2023
/ Asset Management ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda
On February 23, 2023, the Green Technical Advisory Group (“GTAG”), an independent advisor to the UK government, published a paper entitled “Promoting the International Interoperability of a UK Green Taxonomy.” In the paper,...more
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (“NZBA”), the UN-led coalition of global banks “committed to aligning their lending investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050,” is facing backlash from certain sustainability-focused...more
3/16/2023
/ Banks ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Lending ,
Net Zero ,
Sustainability ,
United Nations
Over the last three years, PwC and the Leadership Institute at the London Business School have studied the prevalence and efficacy of linking executive pay to ESG-related goals or targets. Their first two reports—Paying well...more
On February 23, three climate advocacy groups—Friends of the Earth France, Notre Affaire à Tous and Oxfam France—filed a lawsuit alleging that a global financial institution violated Article L. 225-102-4.-I of the French...more
On February 14, 2023, Georgeson LLC, the shareholder proxy solicitation firm, published an analysis of investor voting decisions in 2022 on certain types of shareholder proposals. In preparing its report, it looked at public...more
In its annual letter to company board chairs, Aviva Chief Executive Mark Versey set out stewardship priorities for the coming year. The global asset manager, which has £232 billion ($279 billion) under management, states that...more
The 2023 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM), produced in partnership by Carbon Market Watch and the New Climate Institute, contend that of the 24 multinational corporations assessed in the review – “the largest...more
According to a report published by global environmental disclosure platform operator CDP on February 7, 2023, only 81 companies “demonstrated best practice by disclosing against all [of CDP’s] 21 key indicators” denoting a...more
On January 11, 2023, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), a “global independent standard-setting body that serves the public interest by setting high-quality international standards” for the...more
On January 24, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the publication of “new experimental and analytical indicators” that are intended to help analyze climate-related risks in the finance sector and monitor green...more
Mark T. Uyeda, Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), spoke at the California ‘40 Acts Group on January 27 regarding various investment-related ESG issues....more
On January 2, the New York City (NYC) Comptroller, Brad Lander, the NYC Employees’ Retirement System, the NYC Teachers’ Retirement System, and the NYC Board of Education Retirement System, announced that they had submitted...more
1/31/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Comptroller ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Pension Funds ,
Popular ,
Underwriting
On January 10, 2023, Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced that it had closed over $1.6 billion in funding for Horizon Environment & Climate Solutions I (Horizon Climate), the first in an expected series of funds through...more
Proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) have published their updated U.S. voting guidelines for 2023, with Glass Lewis additionally releasing its 2023 policy guidelines for ESG...more
A global financial institution recently announced an updated energy policy, supplementing its previously issued 2030 targets. HSBC’s 2030 targets aimed, among other things, to reduce financed emissions in two carbon-intensive...more
1/13/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HSBC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Utilities Sector
In early 2022, the ESG ratings industry attracted attention when electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc. was dropped from the S&P 500 ESG Index. Explaining its decision, S&P cited perceived deficiencies in many ESG areas,...more
It is hardly news that ESG investing is a significant aspect of the asset management industry. According to Barron’s, $400 billion was invested in U.S. mutual funds and assets that have an ESG orientation in 2021. However,...more
Summary -
In an important development, on April 28, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commenced an action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in which it asserted that...more
5/3/2022
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
False Statements ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Investment Fraud ,
Mining ,
Misleading Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On March 30, 2022, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) requested comment on draft principles “that would provide a high-level framework for the safe and sound management of exposures to climate-related...more