As a follow-up to our blog post in February about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) pause in defending its Climate Disclosure Rules, on March 27, the SEC notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit...more
On February 12, the Staff (Staff) at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M (SLB 14M). Among other matters, SLB 14M rescinds Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L (SLB 14L) and reinstates...more
On February 11, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda asked the Eighth Circuit not to schedule oral arguments for the SEC’s climate disclosure rules, which were adopted in March 2024, and soon...more
2/12/2025
/ California ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
State and Local Government
On December 11, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(f) and Nasdaq Listing Rule 5606(a) (together with Nasdaq Listing Rule IM-5900-9, the Board Diversity Rules) by a 9-8 vote. In...more
12/16/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
LGBTQ ,
Listing Standards ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Join Bass, Berry & Sims and leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) along with corporate and securities thought leaders for the next installment of our ESG Impact Webinar series. As public companies prepare for...more
12/12/2024
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Climate Change ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
No-Action Letters ,
No-Action Requests ,
Proxy Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Webinars
Soon after California passed far-reaching climate legislation last year (referred to herein as SB 253 and SB 261; see our earlier blog post here and here for background), it was challenged in the U.S. District Court for the...more
11/8/2024
/ California ,
California Air Resources Board ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Discovery ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
First Amendment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
As anticipated, on September 27, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 219 (SB 219), after the California legislature passed it on August 31, 2024. SB 219 amends the Climate Corporate Data...more
10/3/2024
/ California ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Governor Newsom ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Legislatures
On September 10, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission or SEC) charged Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (Keurig) for making inaccurate statements about the recyclability of its K-Cup single-use beverage pods. Without...more
9/16/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investors ,
Keurig Inc ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations
Earlier this month, 38 Congressional Democrats (10 Senators; 28 Representatives) sent a letter to Chairman Gary Gensler of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), urging the SEC to robustly enforce its existing rules and...more
We previously blogged about the final climate disclosure rules, and how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voluntarily stayed implementation of the final rules pending the completion of judicial review of the...more
Today, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) voluntarily stayed its recently issued Climate Disclosure Rules.
The SEC hopes the voluntary stay will facilitate the resolution of the current Eighth Circuit challenge...more
In a never ending saga to the climate disclosure rules, on March 15, the Fifth Circuit temporarily stayed the recently adopted climate change disclosure rules....more
3/19/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
After almost two years following its proposed rules, on March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules to require public companies to disclose certain climate-related information in...more
3/8/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In March 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) then-acting chair, Allison Herren Lee, announced the creation of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Task Force within the SEC’s Division of Enforcement....more
After months of anticipation, on March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3:1 to propose climate change-related disclosure rules that would impact a company’s annual reports and registration...more
3/28/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On March 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules and amendments to enhance and standardize public companies’ disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident...more
On July 28, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler delivered remarks at the Principles for Responsible Investment’s Climate and Global Financial Markets Webinar. In his remarks, he offered a glimpse of...more
8/2/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form 10-K ,
Gary Gensler ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transportation Industry
We’ve seen the many efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure on the domestic front (see our blog post that summarizes recent activity). ...more
While we have seen an increased focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure the last few years, there has been a whirlwind of activity during the last six months by President Biden, Congress and the...more
The number of frameworks and standards in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) space can be overwhelming. While various organizations have set up different standards and frameworks, last year five of them — the...more
From a focus on climate change to a push for diverse corporate boards, ESG matters – those related to environmental, social and corporate governance – have become the focus of corporations and investors alike. Regarding...more
Nearly a year and a half after proposing them, the SEC recently adopted amendments to disclosure requirements for reporting companies, as mandated by the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (the FAST Act). These...more
4/3/2019
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Confidential Information ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Final Rules ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Form 10-K ,
Hyperlink ,
New Rules ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On March 20, 2019, nearly a year and a half after proposing them, the SEC adopted amendments to disclosure requirements for reporting companies, as mandated by the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (the “FAST...more
3/26/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Form 10-K ,
Hyperlink ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
XBRL Filing Requirements