This guide discusses important themes from the 2024 proxy season and developing trends we are monitoring for 2025. It also includes a “housekeeping checklist” designed to assist you as you prepare your proxy statement. For...more
In 2023, when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills related to climate disclosure—Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, and SB 261, Greenhouse gases: climate-related financial...more
Despite the sense of relief that many companies initially felt with the SEC’s stay of its climate disclosure rules, the pause is unlikely to temper the forces demanding climate disclosures by other means. In the latest paper...more
In today’s interconnected global regulatory landscape, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors are for organizations worldwide. While the European Union (EU) has always been a trailblazer in this arena, it is...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted its long-awaited climate disclosure rules on March 6, 2024. (For more information, see our recent Cooley client alert, webinar and resource page.) The final rules require...more
On March 6, 2024, the SEC announced its long-awaited adoption of final rules regarding climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings (the “Climate Rules”). The SEC dialed back the more prescriptive...more
On March 6, 2024, two years after the issuance of a proposing release and following more than 24,000 comment letters and 4,500 unique letters submitted in response, by a vote of 3-2, the U.S. Securities and Exchange...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed expansive and controversial climate disclosure rules. Two years and 24,000 comment letters later, on March 6, 2024, the SEC voted 3-2 to adopt its...more
On March 6, 2024, in a 3-2 vote along party lines, the SEC adopted the long-awaited final rules on climate-related disclosures. The proposed rules faced intense public scrutiny over the last two years, with the SEC receiving...more
On March 6,2024, in a 3-2 vote, the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules requiring registrants to disclose certain climate-related information in registration statements and annual reports....more
On March 6, 2024, in a 3-2 vote, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules requiring registrants to disclose certain climate-related information in registration statements and annual reports. ...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
2023 saw terms like “ESG,” “greenwashing,” and “circular economy” come into common use. We also saw a tsunami of other environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related developments at the international, federal, and state...more
On October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two expansive climate disclosure bills (SB 253 and SB 261), making California the first state in the U.S. to impose requirements on greenhouse gas (“GHG”)...more
Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates. Our aim is to provide insights into notable developments in securities reporting and the environmental, social and governance space over the quarter and, where...more
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two watershed climate bills on October 7, 2023 that will require companies with significant revenue to make climate-related disclosures starting in 2026. The stated purpose of...more
California is poised to become the first state to require large companies to disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from direct operations, supply chains and employees and report on climate-related financial risk and any...more
California climate bills to be signed into law - This month, The Associated Press reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to sign into law a pair of far-reaching climate disclosure bills that will impact many...more
As public companies anticipate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) final climate disclosure rules, which are expected to be released sometime fourth quarter of 2023, California has beaten the federal government...more
Last week, the California Legislature passed two far-reaching climate disclosure bills – SB 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (CCDAA), and SB 261, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (CRFRA) – together,...more
Two far-reaching California climate bills, together the “Climate Accountability Package,” have passed in the California legislature and are headed to Governor Gavin Newsom for a final decision. If signed into law, Senate Bill...more
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), established by the IFRS Foundation (IFRS), issued a comprehensive global baseline of disclosure standards to facilitate consistent and comparable disclosures on risks...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently announced plans to change its methodology for its Environmental & Social Disclosure QualityScore (ISS QualityScore). The revised ISS QualityScore is expected to take effect...more
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued proposed regulations imposing on public reporting companies’ disclosure obligations concerning climate change impacts and GHG emissions. The proposal,...more