Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Investing in the U.S. - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Business Better Podcast Episode: Investing in Consumer Brands – A Conversation with SBJ Capital
Podcast: ESMA Report: Undue Pressure on Companies
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 330 Robin Bew and Henry Stoever of the NACD
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 328, Chris McNett on State Street Global Advisors' ESG Institutional Investor Survey
Last year, I wrote a commentary entitled Contagion. That commentary was inspired by the early days of the meltdown of the crypto currency market (long before SBF made the whole space way more notorious with a whiff of...more
Recently, we have been witnessing a trend among institutional investors of preferring investment funds that take ESG (environmental, social and governance) considerations into account. ESG considerations lead to investments...more
Following a series of accounting and audit scandals in recent years and what has been described as a “crisis of trust”, the UK Government, regulatory bodies, and institutional investor groups have set out to reform the UK’s...more
Introduction - On July 24, 2023, the High Court dismissed ClientEarth's application for permission to bring a shareholder derivative claim against Shell's directors (the "Board") for breach of directors' duties under the...more
ESG or Environmental, Social, and Governance aspects of the workplace have become an increasingly hot topic over the last few years in many UK workplaces. Driven by a combination of a tight labour market, heightened...more
The number of shareholder proposals put forward in 2022 increased by roughly 9% over 2021. At the same time, however, the number of shareholder proposals put forward by hedge funds and dedicated activists went up by only 1%....more
In the early days, most company Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs were more akin to Corporate Social Responsibility, with companies publicly highlighting initiatives that benefit their communities. They...more
The Act's supporters say it would shift voting power from large investment advisers to individual investors, but the reality could be far more complex - The INDEX Act arrives at a moment of increasing resistance to ESG...more
Companies are responding in a myriad of ways to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs), including by expanding healthcare travel benefits to reduce barriers to accessing care in...more
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by a revanchist Russia continues to dominate headlines as the war enters its second month. While the sometimes-terrible choices facing those living in the conflict zone are unparalleled,...more
Takeaways - ESG activist campaigners are likely to continue asserting themselves. Companies that have merged with SPACs and whose stock prices have slumped will be at risk for activist pressure. Watch for more activist...more
The fund and asset management industry has been more focused on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues in the last two years than it has been in, perhaps, the last decade....more
In our previous post, we highlighted a number of global goals and campaigns aimed at addressing climate change. In this post, we examine climate change-oriented policies and initiatives that are being adopted by many...more
The European Commission has finalised its proposed ESG-related changes to MiFID II. These are intended to fit together with SFDR, and are part of a suite of ESG related changes being made via amends to AIFMD, the UCITS...more
A relic of the dot-com era may prove useful in attracting investors seeking specific exposures that are ESG-aligned. Shareholders, regulators, and other stakeholders continue to drive the integration of environmental, social,...more
On November 3, 2021, the staff (“staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14L which reverses a series of...more
The regulator is inviting views on potential criteria for classifying and labelling investment products, and on further entity- and product-level sustainability-related disclosures. On 3 November 2021, the FCA published...more
A trio of recent developments illustrate growing support for Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives in the U.S., as well as abroad. ESG regulatory and legal risks now appear top of mind for institutional...more
While pressure from institutional investors, such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, has contributed to increased focus and urgency on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters, so has pressure from...more
In this episode of Public Pensions & Investments Briefings, Nossaman Public Pensions & Investments Group Partner Peter Mixon and Institutional Limited Partners Association Senior Policy Counsel Chris Hayes discuss what impact...more
Corporate governance sometimes is the subject of “fads,” or initiatives that gain traction with dubious evidence-based justifications. Sometimes companies engage new theories or strategies because they “sound good,” or give...more
There has been mounting pressure on mandatory ESG disclosure in recent years that may reach a precipice in 2021 with a new SEC Chairman. The forces driving this pressure include institutional investors, fiduciary duties,...more
Environmental, social and governance (or ESG) issues have been hot topics and buzzwords in corporate governance for well over a decade and these issues have increasingly grabbed the attention of corporations and their boards...more
What is the law? Directive (EU) 2017/828 (“SRD II”), amending the Shareholder Rights Directive (2007/36/EC), came into force on 9 June 2017 [link]. SRD II introduced new transparency obligations on “institutional...more
According to Protiviti, in 2019, 90% of companies in the S&P 500 issued separate sustainability reports—not part of SEC filings—and, as of February 2020, over 1,000 companies with an aggregate market cap of $12 trillion have...more