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Ellen Meyers

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Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., said the Labor rule could endanger retirement incomes.

GOP attorneys general sue Labor Department over ESG rule

By Ellen Meyers
Posted February 2, 2023 at 7:00am
Congress prohibited the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring political spending disclosures last year.

Investors focus ESG on contrast between climate words and actions

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 26, 2023 at 7:00am
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., was among four senators from both parties who backed legislation in the last Congress to limit the use of noncompete clauses.

FTC ban may be test of bipartisan opposition to noncompete clauses

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 12, 2023 at 7:00am
Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., a member of House Financial Services Committee, has backed legislation limiting the SEC's disclosure requirements for ESG.

Investors defend ESG ‘materiality’ in expectation of more attacks

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 5, 2023 at 7:00am
South Dakota Sen. John Thune and other Republican senators wrote President Joe Biden last week urging him to rethink his “unrealistic” approach toward ESG regulations.

ESG funds plunge, underscoring need for SEC standards, group says

By Ellen Meyers
Posted December 15, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is expected to become chairman of the House Financial Services Committee next year.

Emboldened House Republicans to bring ESG scrutiny, experts say

By Ellen Meyers
Posted December 8, 2022 at 7:00am
Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun introduced a bill that would curb ESG investing in retirement plans.

Labor Department finds compromise in ESG investment rule

By Ellen Meyers
Posted December 1, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., asked bank CEOs in September to explain their support for a group that Casten said has been “weaponizing state treasurers and lawmakers against climate-related financial risk management.”

Republicans ride ESG backlash to state financial offices

By Ellen Meyers
Posted November 17, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Cindy Axne was one of several Democrats in Congress who told the SEC that farmers and small businesses could get swept up in corporate reporting on supply chain emissions.

As SEC works to finalize climate rule, both sides make their case

By Ellen Meyers
Posted November 10, 2022 at 7:00am
General Electric, led by CEO Larry Culp, was among the companies to show some support for federal climate action.

Companies often don’t match climate talk and lobbying, study says

By Ellen Meyers
Posted November 3, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., has introduced legislation (S 4484) that would require investment decisions to be based only on financial considerations.

Investors resist efforts to paint ESG as a political issue

By Ellen Meyers
Posted October 20, 2022 at 7:00am
Senate Banking ranking member Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said the purpose of the climate risk scenarios "is to ultimately produce new regulatory requirements."

Bank regulators eye climate risk scenarios, drawing GOP criticism

By Ellen Meyers
Posted October 6, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., is leading hearings on hiring and retaining employees.

House panel eyes diversity in hiring, especially at small firms

By Ellen Meyers
Posted September 29, 2022 at 7:00am
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said banks, private equity, asset managers and other financial institutions must be held to account for investing in and underwriting carbon emissions.n.

Investors’ climate pledges take center stage amid growing risks

By Ellen Meyers
Posted September 22, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Patrick J. Toomey and other Banking Committee Republicans are expected to press SEC Chairman Gary Gensler about rules on ESG disclosure.

Banking Republicans to press Gensler on SEC climate rule, cryptocurrencies

By Ellen Meyers and Sarah Wynn
Posted September 15, 2022 at 7:00am
The Securities and Exchange Commission's mandate for universal proxy cards could give activists more influence in shaping boards.

More board seat battles expected as universal proxy card mandate takes effect

By Ellen Meyers
Posted September 8, 2022 at 7:00am
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in May the proposed rule will help investors better understand what funds and advisers mean when they claim to be sustainable.

ESG fund disclosures should be streamlined, investor and advocacy groups tell SEC

By Ellen Meyers
Posted August 18, 2022 at 7:00am
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan's agency would oversee corporations’ progress toward emissions targets and climate goals.

Budget bill would task EPA to scrutinize companies’ climate goals

By Ellen Meyers
Posted August 11, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced corporate diversity disclosure legislation that is now part of the House's fiscal 2023 defense policy bill.

Boardrooms add diversity as Washington mulls disclosure rules

By Ellen Meyers
Posted August 4, 2022 at 7:00am
Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun's bill has the support of at least seven other Senate Republicans.

Retirement funds are ground zero in Senate GOP opposition to ESG

By Ellen Meyers
Posted July 28, 2022 at 7:00am
Exxon Mobil shareholders approved a proposal to publish an audited report outlining how the International Energy Agency’s modeling for a net zero economy by 2050 would impact factors underlying Exxon’s financial statements.

Investors rally behind climate, diversity proposals as proxy season ebbs

By Ellen Meyers
Posted July 21, 2022 at 7:00am
The proposals would "help shareholders exercise their rights to submit proposals for consideration by their fellow shareholders,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

SEC seeks to ease barriers for investors’ ESG proposals

By Ellen Meyers
Posted July 14, 2022 at 7:00am
Led by acting director Sandra L. Thompson, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is the only regulator found to have made considerable progress protecting vulnerable communities from the financial risk of climate change.

Investors urge regulators to protect vulnerable from climate risk

By Ellen Meyers
Posted June 30, 2022 at 6:45am
Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii is one of eight Senate Democrats urging the SEC to include a threshold for Scope 3 emissions reporting.

SEC’s climate rule heats up debate on supply chain emissions

By Ellen Meyers
Posted June 23, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., led eight senators in urging the SEC to incorporate disclosures on lobbying into an eventual final rule on climate risk disclosure.

Companies face tug-of-war on lobbying agenda versus ESG values

By Ellen Meyers
Posted June 16, 2022 at 7:00am
The SEC led by Chairman Gary Gensler is working on a rule requiring disclosure of climate risks.

Labor Department urged to forgo retirement plans’ climate disclosures

By Ellen Meyers
Posted June 9, 2022 at 7:00am
The Supreme Court's ruling on abortion is expected by the end of the current term.

SCOTUS leak prompts investors to press companies on abortion

By Ellen Meyers
Posted May 26, 2022 at 7:00am
Led by Chairman Gary Gensler, the Securities and Exchange Commission has told companies it will allow more shareholder votes on public policy issues such as the environment and worker arbitration than it did during the Trump administration.

Governance dominates corporate shareholder votes, ahead of environmental, social issues

By Ellen Meyers
Posted May 19, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Whitehouse said he and his Senate colleagues are “in a good place” to finalize a set of bills to carry out some of Democrats’ climate ambitions that Republican lawmakers and moderate Democrats including Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., will support.

Climate bill talks in ‘good place,’ Whitehouse says

By Ellen Meyers
Posted May 12, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and other Republicans said in a letter to the SEC that Congress should set climate policy.

Legal debate over SEC’s authority clouds climate rule proposal

By Ellen Meyers
Posted May 5, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, aid he and his colleagues are encouraging other GOP members to have conversations with their state treasurers and financial regulators on the proliferation of ESG metrics.

Some states’ anti-ESG push garners support in Congress

By Ellen Meyers
Posted April 28, 2022 at 7:00am
A top insurance industry official said climate change needs more risk assessment and less politics to help the communities most affected by it.

Climate must be about risk, not politics, insurance leader says

By Ellen Meyers
Posted April 21, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., opposed the reconciliation bill because of its cost.

Google touts stalled reconciliation package in energy agenda

By Ellen Meyers
Posted April 14, 2022 at 7:00am
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the board diversity requirements into law in 2020.

Investors keep up diversity pressure after California law tossed

By Ellen Meyers
Posted April 7, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., urged returning Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to "do the right thing: End the union busting and obey the law.”

Sanders, investors warn Starbucks on response to unionization

By Ellen Meyers
Posted March 31, 2022 at 7:00am
The SEC proposal focuses primarily on emissions that companies can control.

SEC climate rule avoids full mandate on supply chain emissions

By Ellen Meyers
Posted March 24, 2022 at 7:00am
The commission's only Republican, Hester Peirce, seen here at a 2019 congressional hearing, voted against the proposal.

SEC proposes rule for emissions reporting by companies

By Ellen Meyers
Posted March 21, 2022 at 3:44pm
Some companies resistant to ESG, like oil giant BP, moved early to withdraw from projects and investments in Russia.

Rapid corporate exodus from Russia is seen as a lesson for ESG investors, regulators

By Ellen Meyers
Posted March 17, 2022 at 7:00am
Exxon Mobil spent $4.9 million lobbying U.S. lawmakers and regulators in 2020. Above, a Houston campus entrance.

Exxon Mobil’s lobbying report sets benchmark, ESG advocates say

By Ellen Meyers
Posted March 10, 2022 at 7:00am
The Labor Department is asking for information that could be used to protect retirement plans and pensions.

Labor Department mulls more climate rules for retirement plans

By Ellen Meyers
Posted March 3, 2022 at 7:00am
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., was urged in early February by a coalition of companies to overcome partisanship and pass climate legislation.

Renewable energy firms shift focus as reconciliation prospects fade

By Ellen Meyers
Posted February 24, 2022 at 7:00am
The OCC, led by acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, has proposed a draft framework for banks' climate risk disclosure.

Bank regulator urged to go slow on requirement for climate risk disclosure

By Ellen Meyers
Posted February 17, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote to the SEC urging the agency to require companies' to disclose whether they used subcontracted workers.

Investors, regulators, Congress focus on companies’ treatment of workers

By Ellen Meyers
Posted February 10, 2022 at 7:00am
Rep. Jim McGovern sponsored the bill enacted in December to block imports of goods made with forced labor.

US law aimed at Chinese forced labor to test companies on ESG performance

By Ellen Meyers
Posted February 3, 2022 at 7:00am
SEC Chair Gary Gensler, said in September the agency would be mandating climate disclosure by U.S. listed companies.

Past legal fights seen bolstering SEC’s case for requiring climate disclosure

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 27, 2022 at 7:00am
The Supreme Court's rulings on abortion access could come as corporate annual meetings are winding down.

Activists press companies on abortion with Roe v. Wade at stake

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 20, 2022 at 7:00am
Sen. Jack Reed led a letter by 11 Democrats calling for U.S. financial officials to update supervisory expectations for management to account for climate-related financial risks.

ESG investors urge regulators to create game plan for climate risk

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 13, 2022 at 7:00am
South Carolina Republican Tim Scott was one of four Republican senators who wrote to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to object to the proposal.

Retirement advisers group, AARP wary of Labor Department’s ESG proposal

By Ellen Meyers
Posted January 6, 2022 at 7:00am
Since becoming the chairman, Gary Gensler has shifted the SEC's guidance on ESG issues and is adding to the momentum for more shareholder activism in 2022.

Stronger shareholder action, more robust ESG rules expected in 2022

By Ellen Meyers
Posted December 16, 2021 at 7:00am
New York Rep. Gregory W. Meeks’ bill would require annual disclosure of voluntary and self-disclosed gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status by board directors and executives of public companies.

Democrats’ report urges diversity, pay equity disclosure bills

By Ellen Meyers
Posted December 9, 2021 at 7:00am