SEC fallout grows as row rages over amendments A prominent SEC Commissioner has admitted that the US regulator needs to rethink parts of its proxy voting rule amendments. Speaking at the Council of Institutional Investors’ 2020 conference this week, Commissioner Elad Roisman said the regulator may reconsider parts of its proposals to appease market commentators. […]
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Pensions urged to up climate change activity The trade group representing some 1,300 UK pension schemes, with £1 trillion of assets, has called on the industry to step up efforts of climate change. Addressing members at the annual Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association Investment Conference, Richard Butcher, the group’s chair, said it was time for […]
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Have regulators been deceived on green benchmarks? New European regulations on green benchmarks have been thrown into the spotlight this week, amid allegations they favour the interests of a handful of ESG data providers rather than supporting “genuine sustainability”. The European Commission’s proposals to develop benchmarks for low-carbon investment strategies have been dubbed “flawed and […]
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Investors to fund firms: “No ESG, no money” A group of major pension funds has written a no-ifs-and-buts letter to asset managers and companies warning that firms who fail to consider the impact of ESG risks are no longer “attractive” for investments. The letter – signed by three big pensions funds including the California State […]
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UK pensions to pioneer mandatory climate change reporting UK pensions are set to be the first in the world to be legally required to assess, and rectify, their exposure to climate change risk. An amendment, including reporting requirements in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), has been tabled to form part […]
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Shareholders lack confidence to hold companies to account Large swathes of shareholders are not voting on company resolutions because they do not believe their vote will make a difference, a report has suggested. The astonishing finding, from a poll conducted among 1,000 investors by The Share Centre, found that some investors were also unaware of […]
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French proposals to curb shareholder activism spark debate The French government has been criticised for publishing a report suggesting a crackdown on shareholder activism. The report, published at the end of last year, comes as shareholders keenly anticipate how different EU jurisdictions will negotiate capital market issues in the post-Brexit era. Following several high-profile shareholder […]
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Industrial companies largely ignoring climate risks The world’s largest industrial companies have been warned they have been “too slow” in curbing their carbon emissions. The warning comes as a major report reveals less than a fifth of these high-emitting corporations are on track to meet the critical 2°C global warming target set by the Paris […]
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Investors up in arms over SEC climate proposals SEC chairman Jay Clayton has again come under fire for failing to go far enough on climate disclosures, as the regulator pushes to give company bosses yet more control over the information they divulge to investors. SEC commissioner Allison Lee, an experienced securities law practitioner, spoke out […]
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UK reporting watchdog issues diversity warning The majority of the UK’s leading companies are failing to act on boardroom ethnic diversity, a major report by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) reveals. The report, which reveals most of the FTSE 350 do not set measurable ethnicity targets, has fuelled concerns that companies will fail to meet […]
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