SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, who came to the Commission from the Koch-funded, ultra-anti-regulatory Mercatus Center, the same person who informed the Council of Institutional Investors that their members did not know what it was that investors needed, is now speaking out against ESG disclosures, in a speech to Brookings. What is especially infuriating about Pierce…
Tag: sec
SEC Asset Management Advisory Committee Recommendations for ESG Disclosure
Recommendations Regarding Issuer Disclosure of Material ESG Matters: – The AMAC recommends the SEC take steps to foster meaningful, consistent, and comparable disclosure of material environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters by issuers. – To foster meaningful, consistent, and comparable disclosure, the SEC should encourage issuers to adopt a framework for disclosing material ESG matters…
Response to the SEC’s Request for Comments on Climate Change/ESG Disclosure
The SEC has asked for comments on climate change and ESG disclosures. The comment from VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is attached in full below. Some excerpts: As a general point, I note that some of the comments are not clear about who is funding them, what is paid advocacy, and how suggested changes would…
SEC Suspends Trump-Era Proxy Advisory Rule
From SEC Chair Gary Gensler [footnotes omitted, emphasis added]: In September 2019, the Commission issued an interpretation and guidance addressing the application of the proxy rules to proxy voting advice businesses. Last July, the Commission adopted amendments to Rules 14a-1(l), 14a-2(b), and 14a-9 concerning proxy voting advice. I am now directing the staff to consider…
House Passes ESG Disclosure Bill: H.R. 1187, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IMPROVEMENT AND INVESTOR PROTECTION ACT
The House has passed legislation to require the SEC to issue new rules on ESG disclosure. While it is unlikely that it will get a majority vote in the Senate, it bolsters the SEC’s own efforts. An excerpt: (3) Investors have reported that voluntary disclosures of ESG metrics are inadequate. (4) A rule requiring reporting…
Investors sue U.S. regulator over Trump-era AGM resolution rules | Reuters
We are delighted to hear that Jim McRitchie, ICCR, and As You Sow are challenging the new SEC rule on shareholder proposals with a lawsuit. A group of investors sued Wall Street’s regulator on Tuesday over rule changes that raise the bar for filing resolutions at annual shareholder meetings to call for new priorities or…
SEC Comment Letter on ESG: Shareholder Commons
We were proud to be among the signers of this comment letter from Shareholder Commons, making essential points about a more wholistic approach to portfolio theory and the role of regulation. The letter is attached in full below. An excerpt [footnotes omitted]: Individual companies financially benefit by externalizing costs and depleting such common goods when…
SEC’s Regulatory Agenda Makes ESG and Shareholder Democracy Key Priorities
The SEC’s new Regulatory Agenda includes: Disclosure relating to climate risk, human capital, including workforce diversity and corporate board diversity, and cybersecurity risk Market structure modernization within equity markets, treasury markets, and other fixed income markets Transparency around stock buybacks, short sale disclosure, securities-based swaps ownership, and the stock loan market Investment fund rules, including…
SEC: Comment from Securities Lawyer Thomas Gorman
The SEC is considering additional restrictions on insider stock sales. We support these rules because it is too easy now for insiders to game the system. Even if sales are scheduled in advance, insiders control the timing of disclosures and other actions that can affect stock price. Thomas Gorman is a former SEC attorney and is…
Members of Congress Express Concern about the SEC’s Approach to Climate Change Disclosure
Some Members of Congress have written to SEC Chairman Gensler to remind him what the “materiality” standard is and conclude without reference to any data that the Commission may not be clear on it. We also caution the SEC against outsourcing its responsibilities to ostensibly “independent” third-party standard setters that have agendas outside the scope ofthe Federal securities laws and that do not recognize the standard ofmateriality that has served U.S. capital markets so well. Some of these organizations are funded or…
