Fidelity, BlackRock Reject Trump Limits on 401(k) ESG Investing – Bloomberg
The world’s largest asset managers are speaking out against a Trump administration plan that would make it more difficult for them to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors when making investment decisions, a move that could limit green investing in 401(k) plans. Fidelity Investments wrote in an 11-page letter to the U.S. Department of Labor that the…
VEA Vice Chair Quoted on Despicable DOL/EBSA Proposal Limiting Proxy Voting Financial Times
Trump administration targets ESG. (Yet) again. The US Department of Labor has taken another swipe at ESG investments by moving to make it more difficult for retirement plan fiduciaries to vote on shareholder proposals that are not explicitly linked to company performance. With the proposed rule released on Monday, the DoL (led by Eugene Scalia)…
How’s the CEO ‘Stakeholder Pledge’ Working Out? Depends Who You Ask – WSJ
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is quoted in this WSJ column by John Stoll about the BRT’s stakeholder rhetoric. Nell Minow, vice chair of ValueEdge Advisors, which consults with institutional investors on corporate governance, agrees with Mr. Bebchuk about tradeoffs, but she cautions “those tradeoffs are rarely permanent.” She said directors need to push executives…
DOL proposes rule to narrow scope of ERISA fiduciaries’ proxy voting
DOL/EBSA has followed up its outrageously unsupportable proposed rule on ESG investing (more than 95 percent of the more than 7000 comments strongly opposed) with an even more outrageously unsupportable proposed rule rolling back more than 30 years of settled law that all aspects of share ownership — the right to trade, to sue, and…
SEC Cancels Vote Limiting Whistleblower Rights — Again
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has canceled a scheduled vote on proposed rules that would restructure its Dodd-Frank Act mandated whistleblower reward program. This is the second time the vote on the proposed changes has been canceled. “We hope that the Commission is using this additional time to ensure that the proposed changes do not…
Alpha Investor’s Charles Mizrahi on God, Capitalism, and ESG
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow interviewed Alpha Investor’s Charles Mizrahi for Medium about his article on the Biblical basis for capitalism. An excerpt: Over time the “invisible hand of the market” encourages compassion and generosity. Consumers patronize companies that are more socially responsible. Companies that are not, will see a loss of market share. End…
SEC to Allow Businesses More Flexibility in Disclosing Risk, Legal Information – WSJ
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday voted to give companies more flexibility in disclosing risk factors and legal proceedings in their financial statements. The SEC approved an amendment to Regulation S-K, which serves as the basis of disclosure requirements for U.S. public companies. Regulation S-K hasn’t undergone significant changes in more than 30…
SEC Commission to vote on reducing Wall Street whistleblower protections on September 2, 2020.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will meet at 9am on 2 September, 2020 to vote on proposed changes to the SEC’s highly successful Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower reward programme. If approved as originally written, the proposed changes will undermine vital whistleblower protections, and place investors at significant risk of being harmed by increased fraud,…
