Earlier this week, Mark Uyeda, the Acting Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), began the process of unwinding that agency’s final climate disclosure rule enacted during the Biden administration. In a...more
Many companies are in the midst of preparing their year-end Annual Reports on Form 10-K and looking ahead to their annual meeting of shareholders. In addition to changes to rules, regulations and disclosure trends, the...more
On November 5, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for summary judgment that sought to declare SB 253 and SB 261 (the “California Climate Laws”) invalid on their face under the...more
The march toward mandated corporate disclosures for climate-related risks continues. Despite significant pushback and substantial legal challenges, state legislatures and regulators are continuing to advance laws and rules...more
On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released final rules regarding the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (the Final Rules). We provided an overview of the...more
On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued an adopting release (Release Nos. 33-11275 and 34-99678), entitled The Enhancement and Standardization of ClimateRelated Disclosures for Investors (the...more
The Eighth Circuit has the power to reimpose the stay, either on the same or different terms. Companies affected by the climate rules should continue to monitor the case for further developments....more
A coalition of nine Republican AGs, led by Iowa AG Brenna Bird, has filed a petition for judicial review of the SEC’s climate related disclosure rule, which would require companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions....more
After nearly two years of public comments and deliberation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a Final Rule on Mandatory Climate Disclosures (Final Rule). While less sweeping than initially proposed,...more
On March 6, 2024, the SEC adopted final rules (Final Rules) requiring extensive climate-related disclosures in companies’ annual reports and registration statements. The new rules are set forth in Release No. 33-11275. The...more
HHS Cybersecurity Performance Goals and the Healthcare Industry - The healthcare industry is a major target for cyberattacks because of all of the personal information collected from patients. Recognizing that the healthcare...more
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
Introduction - With the adoption by 196 parties of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, legally binding international climate change arrived. The Paris Agreement requires increasingly aggressive five-year cycles climate...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted (in a 3-2 vote) final rules related to climate-related disclosures. These rules had first been proposed in March 2022. In his opening remarks, SEC Chair Gensler noted that the...more
The SEC announced an open meeting for March 6, 2024 to vote and consider adoption of final climate-related disclosure requirements for public companies. This comes after nearly two years since the SEC first proposed its...more
Executive Summary- Climate disclosure regulations are among the most significant and complex challenges faced by companies and boards, with a variety of requirements emanating from numerous governmental authorities and...more
On December 19, 2023, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) released its updates to its Proxy Voting Guidelines. Somewhat unusually, ISS made only one change to its voting recommendation policies for U.S. public...more
While the highly anticipated adoption of proposed rules on climate risk disclosure by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to be on hold (the SEC’s recently revised regulatory agenda indicates possible...more
California recently enacted two landmark climate disclosure laws that will require companies doing business in the State above specified revenue thresholds to report their Scope 1-3 greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and...more
What’s in a name? According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, quite a bit. On September 20, 2023, the SEC adopted amendments to the Investment Company Act of 1940, most notably to the “Names Rule” governing the names...more
As expected, in the last couple years the ESG disclosure frameworks, including climate-related disclosures, have been moving from voluntary to mandatory. While some standard setters are seeking to streamline reporting,...more
In groundbreaking legislation, California continues to lead the nation in climate change regulation by enacting the bulk of the California Climate Accountability Package – an unprecedented climate disclosure mandate for...more
On October 7, 2023, California Governor Newsom signed two landmark bills into law, Senate Bill (SB) 253 and SB-261, imposing new requirements on large companies doing business in California to publicly report their annual...more
Summary - California’s new climate legislation requires thousands of public and private companies that conduct business in the state to disclose their Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related...more
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more