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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

Congress prohibited the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring political spending disclosures last year.

Investors focus ESG on contrast between climate words and actions

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

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

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

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

Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun introduced a bill that would curb ESG investing in retirement plans.

Labor Department finds compromise in ESG investment rule

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

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

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

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

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

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., is leading hearings on hiring and retaining employees.

House panel eyes diversity in hiring, especially at small firms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., opposed the reconciliation bill because of its cost.

Google touts stalled reconciliation package in energy agenda

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the board diversity requirements into law in 2020.

Investors keep up diversity pressure after California law tossed

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

The SEC proposal focuses primarily on emissions that companies can control.

SEC climate rule avoids full mandate on supply chain emissions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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