Introduction - Throughout the 118th Congress, the US House of Representatives (House) has remained focused on oversight of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. In particular, the House Financial Services...more
Carbon Quarterly is a newsletter covering developments in carbon policy, law, and innovation. No matter your views on climate change policy, there is no avoiding an increasing focus on carbon regulation, resiliency planning,...more
5/2/2024
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Airlines ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Forestry ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
ISDA ,
Natural Resources ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Timber ,
USDA
Introduction - On Wednesday, 6 March 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved its highly anticipated final rules on “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” by a...more
3/7/2024
/ Asset Management ,
Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investors ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Introduction - On 7 October 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law landmark legislation mandating corporate climate and climate-related financial risk disclosures. Together, SB 253 and SB 261 apply to public...more
ESG Activity in the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) - Prior to departing for the August recess, Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) wrapped up the month-long series of hearings considering digital assets and...more
On 2 November 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3–2, along party lines, to adopt a final rule and form amendments (together, the Final Rule) that would require additional disclosure on Form N-PX...more
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler has had a very active regulatory agenda that has invited a lot of controversy due to both its ambitious scope and the speed of implementation. While there are...more
The Biden administration has prioritized environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks to capital markets, particularly climate-related financial risks (discussed in our previous alert, Biden Administration ESG Activity...more
3/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On 20 May 2021, President Biden announced an Executive Order to help “tackle the climate emergency,” a top priority for his Administration.1 The Executive Order builds upon the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the Commission) has announced a series of initiatives reorienting the Commission’s agenda to focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. In particular, the...more
I. INTRODUCTION -
As a result of the recent outbreak of COVID-19, financial markets and institutions have experienced significant disruptions. ...more
On November 6, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted 3-2 to issue two notices of proposed rulemaking (“NPR”) amending the requirements to submit and resubmit shareholder proposals, and modifying the rules...more
On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, an event considered by many to mark the beginning of the credit crisis of 2008–2009 and the unprecedented public policy responses that followed. Much has been...more
On October 26, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) released a report entitled “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities: Asset Management and Insurance,” the third in a series of reports...more
On June 15, 2016, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) released a more detailed summary of the Financial CHOICE Act (“FCA”), a proposal to revisit the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer...more
On June 7, 2016, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) released an executive summary of the Financial CHOICE Act (the “FCA”), his highly anticipated bill to revisit the Dodd-Frank Wall Street...more
6/17/2016
/ Basel III ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Depository Institutions ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
FSOC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIFIs
On February 1, 2016, K&L Gates LLP, The Washington Times and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held a symposium entitled “Capitalism in the 21st Century.” The event explored emerging corporate governance considerations such as...more
The 2008 credit crisis was the beginning of an era of unprecedented government management of the capital markets. July 21, 2015 marked the fifth anniversary of the hallmark congressional response, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street...more
8/19/2015
/ Capital Markets ,
Capital Markets Union ,
CFTC ,
Clawbacks ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
European Commission ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FSB ,
FSOC ,
G-SIFI ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Investors ,
IOSCO ,
Libor ,
Liquidity Coverage Ratio ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Obama Administration ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Popular ,
Proxy Access Rule ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps
For over four years after enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act (“Dodd-Frank”), President Obama and the Democratic Senate successfully blocked any changes to that act. For example, in the 113th Congress, the House passed 26 bills...more
1/26/2015
/ Dodd-Frank ,
Form 10-K ,
JOBS Act ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulation S-K ,
SBIC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
TRIA ,
Volcker Rule ,
XBRL Filing Requirements
On June 5, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted to release its long-awaited proposals to make significant revisions to the rules governing money market mutual funds (“money funds”), as well as to adopt...more
On November 13, 2012, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the “FSOC”) unanimously approved the publication of several proposed recommendations for money market mutual fund (“MMMF”) reform (the “Proposed...more