Securities and Exchange Commission

On March 15, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted an administrative stay of the climate-related disclosure rules recently adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SEC rules require public companies to provide information about climate-related risks that could significantly impact their business or financial statements. See

After much anticipation, on March 6, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt final rules that require reporting by public companies of climate change-related disclosure. While the final rules differ from the SEC’s controversial proposed rules in significant ways, the final rules are prescriptive, and require substantial new, additional disclosures.

The SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has adopted new rules that require public companies to disclose substantial information about the material impacts of climate-related risks on their business, financial condition, and governance (the “Final Rules”).  The SEC says that “climate-related risks, their impacts, and a public company’s response to those risks can significantly affect

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted (in a 3-2 vote) final rules related to climate-related disclosures.  These rules had first been proposed in March 2022.  In his opening remarks, SEC Chair Gensler noted that the climate-change related disclosure rules will apply to public companies and to public offerings, and are intended to benefit investors by

On November 15, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a press release providing an overview of its 2022 enforcement activities. The SEC stated that it had filed 760 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2022, which was a 9% increase from last year. The civil penalties, disgorgement, and pre-judgment interest ordered in SEC actions were $6.44 billion, the most in the SEC’s history and almost double the amount from fiscal year 2021. Of the total money ordered, civil penalties, which totaled $4.194 billion, were the highest on record.Continue Reading ESG continues to be a SEC enforcement focus

On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, holding that the EPA lacks authority under Section 7411(d) of the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants through “generation shifting,” i.e., increasing the use of cleaner energy sources like wind and

At an open meeting on May 25, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) approved two new proposals regarding ESG that will impact the fund and investment management industry. One of the proposals is directed solely at registered funds and business development companies (BDCs), while the other applies to registered funds, BDCs

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rulemaking process has received much attention under Chair Gensler’s leadership not only because of the volume and substance of proposed rules, but also because of the relatively short comment periods allotted for the public to respond pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act process. As just one example of

On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3:1, with only Commissioner Hester Peirce dissenting, to propose long-awaited rules that, if adopted, would require extensive reporting by public companies of climate change-related disclosure and related attestation (the “Proposal”). Comments on the Proposal are due 30 days after

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance (Division) published a sample letter with comments that the Staff intends to issue to public companies regarding their climate change disclosures—or lack thereof—in SEC filings. As explained in a prior Mayer Brown post, Commissioner Lee, when she was Acting Chair of the SEC earlier this year, directed the Staff to increase its attention on the ways in which public companies implement the SEC’s 2010 Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change, which provides direction to companies regarding the SEC rules that may require disclosure about climate change, despite the fact that climate change is not explicitly referenced in the existing rules.

The SEC’s disclosure requirements are largely principles-based and may require different information from different companies, including climate change-related information.Continue Reading US SEC Division of Corporation Finance Publishes Sample Letter to Companies Regarding Climate Change Disclosures