ESG, Cyber Risk and Compliance
Ongoing wars abroad, political division and election year uncertainty in the United States, along with continuing state, federal, and global regulatory discord on sustainability and artificial intelligence, among other...more
Regulators across the globe continue to focus on disclosures and marketing relating to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Consistent with this trend, on September 20, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange...more
Sustainability reporting is expanding across all industry sectors. Foremost among these is the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which takes effect in 2024. At the same time, the IFRS is also expanding...more
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), established by the IFRS Foundation (IFRS), issued a comprehensive global baseline of disclosure standards to facilitate consistent and comparable disclosures on risks...more
2023 MID-YEAR REVIEW - In the first half of 2023, several rule changes have been proposed by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including changes to...more
On June 2, 2023, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) issued a draft letter requesting comments on the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) proposal to improve the international...more
Following completion by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) of IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), on...more
ESG? SDGs? SASB? GRI? TCFD? The world of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) is littered with acronyms and can seem like an alphabet soup to companies just getting started. This article introduces you to some of the...more
Within the next 18 months, approximately $936 billion in commercial real estate and multifamily debt is due to mature. Analysts expect delinquency rates to continue to climb, as interest rates rise and traditional capital...more
A recent academic study covering the period 2010-2021 has found that many companies in the S&P500 currently are providing disclosure on ESG issues, and in the absence of mandated disclosure rules, do so on a voluntary basis....more
In the wake of the FDIC bank shutdown actions taken last month, we have written about cash management arrangements, account naming conventions, financial covenants and rating requirements in typical commercial real estate...more
ESG, cyber risk and privacy are all hot topics in compliance, but that doesn’t mean people typically identify the data issues as ESG topics. Lisa Beth Lentini-Walker, CEO & Founder of Lumen Worldwide Endeavors and Assistant...more
Blackrock’s recently released 2023 Investment Stewardship Global Principles, identifies several key themes to guide stakeholders and promote sound corporate governance regarding sustainability-related issues. At a high level,...more
From Amazon to Walmart, companies across the globe are striving to implement ESG initiatives that can stand up to increased scrutiny. The energy industry, like all industries, is facing the possibility of new standards...more
The move follows a number of similar standards that regulators and governments across the globe have proposed. With effect from 1 June 2022, the Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure (the Guidance), published by...more
Who is Now Subject to Climate-Related Financial Disclosures? Issuers of standard listed equity shares and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) will now be required to satisfy certain previously issued climate-related...more
The standards are part of a global initiative to consolidate sustainability disclosures to help investors assess the value of companies. On 31 March 2022, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) released...more
On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a comprehensive set of proposed rules mandating climate-related risk disclosures for public companies (Proposed Rule). For some the release marks...more
The genesis of the term ESG, which combines environmental, social, and governance metrics into a popular acronym, is frequently linked to a report published in 2004 titled “Who Cares Wins." The report, endorsed by a group of...more
Discover how to set and accomplish your ESG goals - Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) is no longer an isolated function within a company, nor is it an issue only for publicly traded companies. It’s front and...more
Climate change has long been an area of focus for investors. Over the past several months, companies have come under greater scrutiny and have begun to face increased pressure from investors, regulators, activists, and the...more
On October 20th, SEC Commissioner Lee delivered a speech focused on the regulations concerning climate disclosures that the SEC is expected to issue soon. (Indeed, Commissioner Lee emphasized that these regulations are...more
We next consider ESG reporting. This may, at first blush appear to be something outside the orbit of the compliance profession, however, upon closer examination, it is precisely what compliance professionals engage in. This...more
There’s a lot of reasons to structure a large loan destined for securitization as a mortgage in part and a mezzanine loan in part. Sometimes it’s simply that the borrower is needy while the capital markets are charry. In...more