Cleary Gottlieb Discusses EC’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

By Maurits Dolmans, Geraldine Bourguignon, Clara Cibrario Assereto and Toon Dictus June 2, 2021 by renholding

On April 21, 2021, the European Commission published an ambitious new package of “sustainable finance” regulation proposals. By far the most awaited element of this release concerned the Commission’s proposal for the review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (“NFRD…

SEC Commissioner Lee Speaks on Myths and Misconceptions about “Materiality”

By Allison Herren Lee May 26, 2021 by renholding

Thank you, Neil [Stewart] for the introduction and for having me today as you discuss the important and timely topic of climate and ESG disclosures. I very much look forward to hearing from Janine [Guillot] and Julie [Bell Lindsay]. You

…

SEC Commissioner Lee Speaks on Leveraging Regulatory Cooperation

By Allison Herren Lee May 24, 2021 by renholding

Good afternoon. It’s a privilege to welcome you all to the annual Section 19(d) Conference. I want to start by commending NASAA and SEC staff for their work in putting this event together. And thanks to our colleagues from NASAA

…

ISS Revisits the Performance of ESG Screened Indexes During the Pandemic

By Hernando Cortina May 18, 2021 by renholding

Nearly a year ago, we analyzed the outperformance of ESG strategies during the initial stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic. As of May 2020, we found that ESG indexes based on ISS ESG data had outperformed by 1.3% to 2.8%, with …

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 …

WallStreetBets, GameStop, and the Rise of ESG Retail Investors

By Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci and Christina M. Sautter May 4, 2021 by renholding

The GameStop and meme-stock trading frenzy are evidence of a potential revolution in corporate governance and signal the rise of Generation Y (“Millennials”) and Generation Z (“GenZ”) as retail investors. In a new article, we discuss how these investors, who …

Latham & Watkins Discusses ESG Considerations for Cryptocurrency

By Paul A. Davies, Nicola Higgs, Yvette D. Valdez, Stephen P. Wink and Stuart Davis April 21, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

The huge rise in popularity of Bitcoin — and the growing interest by mainstream financial institutions in virtual assets as an investable and tradable asset class — has shone a light on the cryptocurrency industry’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) …

The New Separation of Ownership and Control: Institutional Investors and ESG

By Paul G. Mahoney and Julia D. Mahoney April 20, 2021 by renholding

In recent weeks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has devoted considerable attention to environmental, social and governance, or ESG, matters. It has requested public comment on climate disclosure proposals, appointed a senior policy advisor for climate and ESG, and …

Repurposing the Corporation Through Stakeholder Markets

By Lynn M. LoPucki April 13, 2021 by renholding

In a new article, I argue that standardized, credible, publicly available ESG information will enable corporations’ stakeholders and potential stakeholders to repurpose their corporations. By “repurpose,” I mean control the corporation and redirect its employees’ efforts to corporate social responsibility …

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 …

Cravath Discusses Board and Management Responses to ESG Considerations

By John W. White, Matthew Morreale and Michael Arnold April 8, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

Environmental, social and governance, or “ESG”, considerations are seemingly ubiquitous in the current financial, corporate and regulatory landscape. In parallel with the socio-economic upheaval of 2020 and a continuing academic debate around corporate purpose and the efficacy and forms of …

ESG Investing After the New Labor Department Rule on “Financial Factors”

By Max M. Schanzenbach and Robert H. Sitkoff March 29, 2021 by renholding

In the wake of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new rule on “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments,” adopted last November and effective as of January 12, 2021, some ERISA fiduciaries and their advisers have expressed concern about the permissibility …

Prosocial Antitrust

By Amelia Miazad March 25, 2021 by renholding

Recent developments have placed antitrust law on a collision course with corporate purpose. In a new paper, I reveal the unforeseen negative impacts of this conflict and provide a roadmap for avoiding them.

Businesses and investors are increasingly embracing …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses DOL’s Declining to Enforce Rules on ERISA Plan Investments and Proxy Voting

By Michael Albano, Mary E. Alcock, Alexander Kurtz and Francesca M. Crooks March 23, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

On Wednesday, March 10, after engaging in conversations with stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration issued an enforcement policy statement in which it declined to enforce two DOL rules put in place by the Trump administration …

SEC Commissioner Speaks at Asset Management Advisory Committee Meeting

By Hester M. Peirce March 22, 2021 by renholding

Good morning to you all and thank you Ed [Bernard]. It is always a pleasure to welcome the hard working volunteers of AMAC back to the Commission. I also want to thank Sarah ten Siethoff and the staff of the

…

ESG Incidents and Shareholder Value

By Simon Glossner March 19, 2021 by renholding

Corporations increasingly integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into their business practices and signal this by committing to sustainability initiatives, such as the UN Global Compact or the 2019 Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. This …

Acting Chair Lee Speaks on Meeting Investor Demand for Climate and ESG Information at the SEC

By Allison Herren Lee March 17, 2021 by renholding

Thank you, John [Podesta], and thanks to the whole team here at the Center for American Progress, for hosting me today. I’ve had the honor of serving as Acting Chair of the SEC for nearly two months now, and I

…

The Agency Costs of Sustainable Capitalism

By Anna Christie March 12, 2021 by renholding

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020, Larry Fink – the chief executive of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock – wore a climate change-themed scarf. It featured the “warming stripes” visual, where the color …

« Previous 1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 17 Next »

The CLS Blue Sky Blog

Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

ESG