The Mintz Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group developed this ESG primer to provide an overview of the current state of affairs in the United States with respect to the ESG issues that businesses...more
10/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Antiboycott Requirements ,
Boycotts ,
CFTC ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
New Regulations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
On September 21, 2023, Judge Kacsmaryk (N.D. Texas), a famously conservative Trump-appointed jurist, upheld a Department of Labor rule promulgated by the Biden Administration that enables employee retirement plans to consider...more
9/28/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rulemaking Process
This week, the Securities & Exchange Commission indicated--through an update to a GSA website --that the proposed climate change disclosure rule would likely be finalized and released in October 2023. This date is congruent...more
Recently, SEC Commissioner Peirce--one of the Republican appointees to the Securities & Exchange Commission--delivered a speech to Eurofi (a European think tank focused on financial regulation) in which she extensively...more
Last Friday, the SEC re-opened the comment period on its climate disclosures rule--"The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors"--for a period of "14 days following publication of the...more
In remarks delivered today to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee, SEC Commissioner Pierce--one of the Republican appointees to the Commission--offered a critique of the proposed SEC rule re: "greenwashing," which is the...more
Climate Change Tort Litigation -
Beginning in 2017, an array of state and local governments have pursued claims against major fossil fuel producers — particularly the major oil companies (Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, and...more
On June 22, 2022, in response to the SEC's release of its regulatory agenda , Republican SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce vigorously objected to the policies and regulatory goals announced by the Biden Administration's SEC. ...more
The Biden Administration has clearly announced that addressing the issue of climate change is one of its key policy priorities. One of the central aspects of this policy was intended to be an array of new regulations by the...more
Last week, SEC Commissioner Crenshaw--one of the Democratic members of the SEC Commission--addressed the Center for American Progress and the Sierra Club, and availed herself of the opportunity to once again vocally express...more
This week, the SEC's Acting Chief Accountant, Paul Munter, issued a statement concerning "High Quality Financial Reporting in a Complex Environment." This statement touched on a number of matters, including the...more