Sep 29, 2023 Significant ESG Enforcement Action by the SEC Against Major Investment Advisor By Jacob H. Hupart On September 25, 2023, the SEC announced a settled administrative proceeding against a major investment advisor in which it agreed to pay...
Sep 29, 2023 The US Securities & Exchange Commission Targets AI on Multiple Fronts (Part 1 of 3) By David Adams The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is highly focused on regulating the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) by financial...
Sep 28, 2023 California Compels Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Major Companies Operating in California By Jacob H. Hupart Earlier this month, Governor Newsom announced his support of a sweeping climate bill enacted by the California legislature that would...
Sep 28, 2023 California Launches Public Nuisance Lawsuit Against the Major Oil Companies By Jacob H. Hupart On September 15, 2023, California filed a lawsuit against the major oil companies, presenting claims under a variety of theories,...
Sep 28, 2023 Congressional Democrats Pressure the SEC to Maintain a Robust Climate Disclosure Rule, Including Scope 3 Emissions By Jacob H. Hupart Yesterday, September 26, 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with six other Democratic Senators and eighteen Democratic...
Sep 27, 2023 Biden Administration's DOL Rule Enabling Investment Advisors to Consider ESG Factors Survives Judicial Challenge By Jacob H. Hupart On September 21, 2023, Judge Kacsmaryk (N.D. Texas), a famously conservative Trump-appointed jurist, upheld a Department of Labor rule...
Sep 27, 2023 Could the new SEC "Names Rule" kill ESG funds? By David Adams Could the new SEC "Names Rule" really kill ESG funds as this article suggests? It seems very doubtful, but whether you agree with the...
Sep 27, 2023 SEC Re-Affirms Commitment to Climate Risk Disclosure Rule By Jacob H. Hupart On September 12, 2023, SEC Chairman Gensler testified before the Senate concerning a number of significant issues for the SEC. Among...
Sep 27, 2023 SEC Approves "Names" Rule to Combat Greenwashing By Jacob H. Hupart On September 20, 2023, the SEC approved amendments to the "Names Rule," which were initially proposed in May 2022. Although the stated...
Sep 26, 2023 ACKRat is asking the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the Vineyard Wind Project as time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...into the future. By Jeff Porter The Nantucket Residents Against Turbines, or ACKRat, have asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to find that the Federal Bureau of...
Sep 26, 2023 What we can learn from one of the most detailed ESG SEC Actions to Date By David Adams The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently found that an investment adviser mischaracterized its integration of...
Sep 21, 2023 A Cup of Coffee - and a Dismissal - To Go By Jennifer B. Rubin Last month, Federal District Court Judge Stanley A. Bastian dismissed at oral argument a shareholder suit challenging the Starbucks DEI...
Sep 18, 2023 A new battle is brewing in the war over the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act, this one over EPA's new Section 401 Water Quality Certification rule By Jeff Porter EPA is publishing its final rule specifying the role of States and Tribes in the Federal licensing or permitting of activities that may...
Sep 15, 2023 Wandering through the Consumer Health Data Privacy & Security Forest? There is a guide for that..... By Cynthia Larose If you are in the consumer health space, you have (or at least we hope you have...) figured out by now that there are health-related...
Sep 14, 2023 The Clean Water Act might now have a broader reach in States that challenged EPA's and the Corps' pre-Sackett WOTUS rule than in those that didn't. By Jeff Porter Sam Hess of Inside EPA reports that EPA and the Corps of Engineers are going to apply their tenth, post-Sackett, attempt to define Waters...
Sep 12, 2023 Feedback That Puts Employees in Their Feels By Jennifer B. Rubin Today’s WSJ piece about making performance "feedback" language more positive to account for the feelings of employees to whom performance...