Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction pending appeal of one of California's two mandatory climate disclosure laws--S.B. 261, which mandates the disclosure of climate-related financial risk, and which...more
On October 29, 2025, the Ninth Circuit scheduled oral argument on the Chamber of Commerce's appeal of the district court decision denying the sought injunction to block California's mandatory climate disclosure laws--and the...more
11/5/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
California ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance Dates ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government
On October 24, 2025, a significant new lawsuit challenging California's mandatory climate disclosure regulations was filed in federal district court (E.D. Cal.) by ExxonMobil...more
On October 9, 2025, SEC Chairman Atkins delivered a speech in which he inveighed against “shareholder proposals focused on environmental and social issues.” According to Chairman Atkins, “these proposals consume a significant...more
On October 9, 2025, SEC Chairman Atkins delivered a speech in which he inveighed against “shareholder proposals focused on environmental and social issues.” According to Chairman Atkins, “these proposals consume a...more
Last month, an earplug maker sued a rival in federal district court in California, alleging that the competitor had engaged “[i]n a calculated ‘greenwashing’ scheme to capture market share from competitors . . . by falsely...more
Following a bench trial, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) held that there had been a breach of the fiduciary duty of loyalty based upon a 401(k) retirement plan's investments, which reflected ESG interests rather than strictly...more
On September 12, 2025, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the legal challenge to the Biden administration’s climate disclosure regulation be “held in abeyance” until the “Securities and Exchange Commission...more
On September 24, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) — the state regulator responsible for implementing California’s new mandatory climate disclosure regulations — released a preliminary list of about 4,100...more
9/29/2025
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
On September 10, 2025, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission withdrew guidance--promulgated by the Biden Administration in September 2024--concerning the market for voluntary carbon credits. Specifically, the CFTC...more
On Friday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the legal challenge to the Biden Administration's climate disclosure regulation be “held in abeyance” until the “Securities and Exchange Commission reconsiders the...more
Last week, on September 2, 2025, the California Air Resources Board announced that it had “released draft guidance to assist reporting entities in complying with the Climate Related Financial Risk Disclosure Program.” This...more
9/12/2025
/ California ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State and Local Government
On August 1, 2025, a federal district court judge rejected the attempt by three major asset managers to dismiss an antitrust complaint filed by a coalition of 11 Republican state attorneys general (and subsequently receiving...more
Last week, Danske Bank--Denmark's largest bank--announced that it would no longer invest in over 1700 fossil fuel companies due to their failure to adequately prepare for climate change. Specifically, their “investment...more
On August 12, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had “closed its investigation into whether several truck and engine manufacturers and their trade association violated the antitrust laws by entering the...more
On August 13, 2025, the challenge to the State of California's mandatory climate disclosure regulations was resoundingly rejected by Judge Wright (C.D. Cal.). The preliminary injunction-- sought by the U.S. Chamber of...more
The State of Florida's Attorney-General has increased the scope of his offensive against DEI and ESG initiatives. Not only has the Florida AG announced an investigation into climate non-profits concerning environmental...more
On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order targeting the practice of de-banking--as described in the executive order, actions to “restrict law-abiding individuals' and business' access to financial services...more
8/12/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SBA ,
Trump Administration
On August 6, 2025, a state court judge in South Carolina dismissed the climate change tort lawsuit filed by the City of Charleston against a number of major fossil fuel companies. (This lawsuit was one of approximately three...more
Last fall, a coalition of eleven Republication attorneys-general filed an antitrust complaint against three major asset managers, alleging that the asset managers' adherence to climate-friendly principles--which discourage...more
Last week, significant revisions were proposed to the European Union's ESG reporting rules, which reflect a major simplification and reduction in reporting obligations. Among other things, the revisions would reduce...more
There was a noteworthy development in the ongoing legal challenge to the SEC’s mandatory climate disclosure law (dating from the Biden administration), which is currently pending in the Eighth Circuit. Following the decision...more
8/4/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
California ,
CARB ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State and Local Government
3 On July 28, 2025, the Republican Attorney-General of Florida announced that his office had “issued subpoenas to investigate whether the CDP (formerly the Climate Disclosure Project) and the Science Based Targets Initiative...more
On July 23, 2025, there was a notable development in the legal proceeding (currently pending in the Eighth Circuit) challenging the validity of the SEC's mandatory climate disclosure law. By way of background, in April...more
The Missouri Attorney-General, Republican Andrew Bailey, recently announced an investigation into the two principal proxy advisory firms for potential violations of Missouri law “related to their promotion of radical...more