Reforming Securities Litigation and Enforcement for ESG Disclosure

By Kevin S. Haeberle April 2, 2025 by renholding

In an earlier post, I discussed my paper arguing that significant changes to the corporate-disclosure regime should trigger review of aspects of the securities-fraud regime. This is because the disclosure regime and the securities-fraud regime go hand-in-hand. So if …

Freshfields Discusses Trump Administration’s Effects on Bank Regulation

By David Sewell, Alison Hashmall and Nariné Atamian November 21, 2024 by eorozco

Bank stocks surged the day after Donald J. Trump won election to a second presidential term, recording double-digit gains on a widespread view that financial regulation under the new administration will be more industry friendly than in the current one. …

Skadden Discusses Increasing Scrutiny of Companies’ ESG Disclosures — Including by ESG Critics

By Tansy Woan and Matthew M. Jang July 6, 2023 by renholding

As public interest and scrutiny into environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues continue to rise, companies face an ever-evolving landscape relating to their ESG disclosures. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed rules that could require increased ESG disclosures. …

Comparing Auditors’ and Users’ Materiality Judgments

By Marcus Doxey and Chez Sealy February 20, 2023 by renholding

Materiality is a ubiquitous concept in accounting and auditing. Accounting and disclosure rules, with few exceptions, are bounded by materiality, meaning that if a matter is immaterial, it is often exempted from the accounting rules. In respect to audits, the …

Skadden Discusses ESG in 2022 and Predictions for 2023

By Raquel Fox, Marc S. Gerber, Aurora Luoma, Greg Norman and Simon Toms February 10, 2023 by renholding

Following another year of increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations by companies, investors and regulators alike, ESG appears to have cemented its position in the corporate landscape. As set out in our 28 July 2022 client alert …

Issues to Consider before Mandating ESG Disclosures through Securities Regulation

By Hans B. Christensen November 4, 2022 by renholding

A recent policy innovation is the use of securities regulations to solve social challenges. It started with mine-labor-safety and conflict-minerals disclosures in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and continues today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to mandate climate …

SEC Chair Gensler on ESG Disclosures Proposal

By Gary Gensler May 27, 2022 by renholding

Today [May 25], the Commission is considering a proposal to improve disclosures by certain investment advisers and funds that purport to take Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into consideration when making investing decisions. I am pleased to support this

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How Mandatory Corporate CSR Disclosures Affect Investors

By Kirsten Fanning, Richard C. Hatfield and Chez Sealy May 24, 2022 by renholding

Investment in companies that engage in sustainable corporate practices is growing rapidly, with those companies receiving approximately $17 trillion from investors so far in the United States alone. As a result, the majority of public companies now voluntarily disclose environmental, …

Mandatory vs. Voluntary ESG Disclosure, Efficiency, and Real Effects

By Cyrus Aghamolla and Byeong-Je An December 8, 2021 by renholding

In recent years, several countries have imposed disclosure requirements on public firms for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. These mandates have also been accompanied by the European Union’s wide-reaching Non-Financial Reporting Directive, effective in 2018 (Directive 2014/95/EU). Similar legislative …

Modernizing ESG and Climate Risk Disclosure

By Virginia Harper Ho November 11, 2021 by renholding

On November 3, timed to coincide with the United Nation’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the IFRS Foundation announced prototype global reporting standards for corporate climate and sustainability disclosures, and the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to …

Arnold & Porter Discusses ESG, Disclosure, and Whistleblowing

By Jane Norberg, Robert Azarow, Daniel M. Hawke, Brian D. Israel and Erik Walsh September 29, 2021 by renholding

On August 25, 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York are investigating greenwashing allegations made by the former head of sustainability of Deutsche Bank AG’s …

SEC Commissioner Peirce Speaks on ESG Disclosure

By Hester M. Peirce July 21, 2021 by renholding

This summer was the summer of the cicadas. The dull hum of their song permeated the solitude of an evening stroll, along with the disconcerting crunch as pedestrian attempts to avoid squashing the creatures inevitably failed. Every seventeen years the …

Putting the Electric Cart Before the Horse:* Inevitable Costs of a New ESG Disclosure Regime

By Elad L. Roisman June 7, 2021 by renholding

Thank you to Dan [Bigman] and the Corporate Board Member for inviting me to participate in today’s ESG Board Forum. Of course, the views I express here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my fellow Commissioners.

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Skadden Discusses SEC and ESG Disclosure

By Brian V. Breheny, Raquel Fox, Marc S. Gerber and Neil P. Stronski May 13, 2021 by renholding

During his Senate confirmation hearing for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler said he would adhere to the U.S. Supreme Court’s view of materiality: Information is material (and should therefore be disclosed) if there is a …

Making ESG Metrics Trustworthy

By Colleen Honigsberg and Paul Brest April 12, 2021 by renholding

Investors are flocking to companies with good environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and are threatening to shun companies with poor ones. For many investors, ESG scores are critical to a company’s long-term profitability, not to mention its impact on …

King & Spalding Discusses SEC’s Potential Focus During Biden Administration

By Alec Koch, Carmen Lawrence, Andrew Michaelson and Matthew B. Hanson February 12, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

For the next several weeks and months, intense focus will be trained on determining the priorities of the Biden administration. We believe that at the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the new administration will ramp up examinations and investigations of …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses New EU ESG Disclosure Obligations for Financial Services Firms

By Géraldine Bourguignon, Helena Grannis, Caroline Petruzzi McHale, Ferdisha Snagg and Clara Cibrario Assereto January 19, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

Over a year ago, on December 29, 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures for the financial services sector (the “Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation”, or “SFDR”) entered into force. Just a few months remain before key …

Paul Weiss Discusses Initiatives to Unify ESG Reporting

By Mark S. Bergman, Ariel J. Deckelbaum, Brad S. Karp and Scott P. Grader October 27, 2020 by Nisha Chandra

ESG reporting is now recognized as a significant agenda item in the ESG space. The plethora of different reporting standards has caused concern and confusion, as those responsible for providing disclosure, as well as the intended beneficiaries of the disclosure, …

Davis Polk Discusses ESG Disclosure Frameworks

By Betty Moy Huber, Joseph Hall and Alexandra Munson July 22, 2020 by renholding

Updates in the past two months to voluntary ESG disclosure frameworks raise questions for companies about these overlapping and arguably competing standards.

GRI Launches Sector-Specific Disclosure Framework

On July 8, 2020, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) published an initial draft…

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