On April 22, 2024, the U.S. government issued a final rule ("Rule") to restructure and update the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR") to implement a requirement for agencies to procure sustainable products and services to...more
5/7/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
ENERGY STAR Program ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Goods or Services ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Sustainability
On 27 March 2024, Australia's climate disclosure regime moved a significant step closer to implementation, with the federal government's introduction of proposed legislation into Parliament. Any organisations with a presence...more
4/17/2024
/ ASIC ,
Audits ,
Australia ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability
With Assembly Bill A3556C, New York joins a growing list of states considering or enacting broad bans on the sale and distribution of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS")....more
4/1/2024
/ Environmental Policies ,
Importers ,
Industrial Products ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturers ,
New York ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retail Market ,
State and Local Government
The Council of the European Union ("EU") approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive ("CS3D") on March 15, 2024. The CS3D contains due diligence and governance obligations that will have an extensive impact...more
3/20/2024
/ Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Deal ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sustainability
The SEC has adopted the much-anticipated climate-related disclosure rules, which are more than 900 pages long, two years after they were first proposed. Although the rules will almost certainly face challenges in court that...more
The impact of ESG (environmental, social & governance) laws, regulations, and obligations has increased in recent times at an almost incomprehensible rate. This is particularly true in the Asia-Pacific (“APAC”) region. Within...more
2/13/2024
/ Civil Penalty Fund ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Green Energy ,
Greenwashing ,
Natural Resources ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Solar Energy
Business groups in California challenge the constitutionality of new climate reporting laws. ...more
This 2023 U.S. Real Estate Round-Up provides key insights to commercial and residential building owners facing a flock of new state environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") laws proposed or taken effect in 2023,...more
The Situation: The Australian government has released its widely anticipated exposure draft legislation for the introduction of Australia's national mandatory climate-related financial disclosures regime....more
The Situation: In October 2023, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), Federal Reserve System, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC," and the three agencies collectively, "Agencies") finalized...more
1/11/2024
/ Banks ,
Climate Change ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Guidance ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Joint Statements ,
OCC ,
Risk Management ,
Supervisory Guidance
In a watershed moment for green and sustainability-linked bonds, on November 30, 2023, the Regulation on European Green Bonds ("EuGB Regulation") was published in the Official Journal of the European Union ("EU")....more
The Council of Europe and the European Parliament announced on December 14, 2023, that they reached a political agreement on the text of the upcoming European Union ("EU") Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive...more
In Short -
The Situation: The California legislature passed landmark climate bills that surpass emissions disclosure requirements of any other existing state law. The bills are branded as the nation's first comprehensive...more
9/28/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) requires the most detailed and onerous ESG reporting and disclosures anywhere in the world. All told, it is estimated that more than 50,000 companies, including...more
9/21/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Parent Corporation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Sustainability ,
Water
The growing carbon credit and related derivatives markets continue to attract the attention of regulatory agencies and law enforcement. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has just announced that it is...more
For many companies, summer is the time when they prepare and publish Sustainability Reports, which report on efforts with respect to environmental, social, and governance initiatives. Other companies may have already...more
7/1/2022
/ Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Sustainability
We believe our proposed changes support all market participants' common objectives of investor protection and fair and efficient capital markets.
...more
6/20/2022
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investor Protection ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
What Happened On May 25, 2022, the SEC voted 3–1 to propose amendments to: (i) the "Names Rule" (Rule 35d-1) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act") and (ii) rules and forms under both the Investment Advisers...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted 3–1 to propose amendments to Regulations S-K and S-X that would require registrants to provide certain climate-related information in their registration...more
3/24/2022
/ Annual Reports ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Statements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
ESG considerations will continue to play an ever-increasing role in financial markets in 2022. ESG-related transactions will continue to present significant opportunities for financial institutions as they respond to and...more
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler suggests SEC will aggressively police crypto assets and decentralized finance ("DeFi") platforms while seeking expanded authority to regulate these fast-growing industries....more
8/10/2021
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Gary Gensler ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
On July 6, 2021, the D.C. Circuit decided Jam et al. v. International Finance Corp., holding that lending decisions made by International Finance Corporation ("IFC") in the United States when it financed construction of a...more
President Biden issued an Executive Order asking the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury to work with the Financial Stability Oversight Council to assess risks that climate change poses to the financial system....more
More than a year ago the world fell victim to a global pandemic that would change life in ways that could never have been predicted. In the early stages of the pandemic, we published a White Paper directed at financial...more
The Situation: The New York Department of Financial Services ("NYDFS") has established a Statewide Office of Financial Inclusion and Empowerment, providing yet another example of state and federal regulators prioritizing fair...more