Investors say many companies with some of the highest greenhouse gas emissions rates in the U.S. lack clear climate targets and, in some cases, are using nebulous climate-related goals to pad CEO pay. The fuzzy carbon emissions targets hurt the world’s efforts to avoid climate change and create poor incentives for CEOs to meet their…
Democratic AGs Letter on ESG
Attorney General Karl A. Racine today a group of 17 state attorneys general in warning the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee about Republican efforts to interfere with financial institutions’ ability to make sound investment decisions on behalf of hardworking Americans. The letter is…
Goldman Sachs to Pay $4 Million to Settle Investigation Over ESG Funds – WSJ
WASHINGTON—Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset-management arm agreed Tuesday to pay $4 million to settle a regulatory investigation into how it managed mutual funds and other products that pick stocks based on environmental, social and governance criteria.The Securities and Exchange Commission said Goldman marketed the ESG funds and a similar investment strategy without always following a…
ESG Investing Is ‘Soaring.’ What Does It Mean?
As the big UN Climate Conference known as COP27 wraps up in Egypt, a new PwC report found that Investors globally are embracing Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) investing on a massive scale – “seen soaring 84%” to $33.9 trillion by 2026 but what does that mean? That’s a whopping 21.5% of total assets under…
Companies Brace for Onslaught of New Activists After Change in Proxy-Voting Rules – WSJ
“This proxy season is shaping up to be the busiest on record,” said Shaun Mathew, a partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP who advises companies on how to prepare for and respond to activists.“Companies are concerned it will draw in first-time activists who think they can take advantage of the new system to…
ESG enforcement is on the rise Reuters
Investors and U.S. financial regulators have made clear that they seek to hold companies and asset managers responsible for public statements they make about ESG. When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) created the Climate and ESG Task Force within the Division of Enforcement with the express purpose of identifying ESG-related misconduct, many public companies…
Highlights of the new DOL/EBSA Rule on ESG
Emphasis added. Full text of the rule.
US Department of Labor announces final rule to remove barriers to considering environmental, social, governance factors in plan investments | U.S. Department of Labor
We are delighted that the DOL/EBSA has issued a new rule on ESG and proxy voting, making it clear that ESG factors are a legitimate concern for ERISA fiduciaries in assessing risk and return. The rule takes effect in 60 days except for some of the proxy voting provisions which will take effect in a…
Biden Administration requires federal suppliers to use CDP’s model for climate risk
One of the obstacles to better ESG assessments is inconsistency of disclosures. The Biden administration’s new requirement for federal suppliers will mean that corporate executives, shareholders, regulators, and third party ratings firms will have much better data for assessing risk. Acknowledging the vital role of disclosure around environmental impact, the White House Council on Environmental…
Challenge to Musk’s $56 BILLION Pay Package
From Rebecca Bellan via Veritas: As if Elon Musk didn’t have enough on his plate, the world’s richest man is headed to court to defend his $56 billion Tesla pay package. Richard Tornetta, a Tesla shareholder who filed suit in 2019 to rescind Musk’s 2018 pay deal, claims the package — “the largest compensation grant…
valueedgeadvisors.com 