US responsible investment investors have secured a greater commitment from asset management giant BlackRock that it will be engaging with its investee companies on climate risk. The group hopes that this could also mean BlackRock supports some climate change shareholder resolutions during the 2017 proxy voting season. Walden Asset Management, the Center for Community Change, the City […]
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Despite being signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment, the RI disclosures of Europe’s largest asset managers are extremely varied in quality, according to new research by advocacy group, ShareAction. ShareAction rated the disclosures of 40 leading fund managers which collectively invest over €21 trillion (£18 trillion) on behalf of pension schemes, charities, universities, and individuals across the […]
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) backed by the G-20, assessed reforms introduced following the financial crisis of 2008, its work on financial technology, financial sector misconduct and climate-related financial disclosures in a meeting held at the end of February. The FSB promotes global financial stability by coordinating the development of regulatory, supervisory and other financial sector policies and conducting […]
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Nearly half of S&P 100 companies included information in 2016 that showed how they responded to shareholder concerns and made changes to policies, according to a new report from US corporate adviser, Equilar. In 2016 42% of S&P 100 companies included disclosures in their proxy statements on how they modified their practices after engaging […]
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The Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures has published a consultation for its recommendations on voluntary, climate-related disclosures to be included as part of mainstream financial filings. The task force said its recommendations will help organisations identify and disclose information needed by investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters to appropriately assess and price climate-related […]
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The US Securities & Exchange Commission is consulting on whether the current business and financial disclosure requirements that form part of Regulation S-K continue to provide the information that investors need to make informed investment and voting decisions. The SEC said this consultation was focused on the disclosures that companies provide in their periodic reports, which are a subset […]
Read MoreSustainability reporting in the US needs improvement according to the chair of its Security and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, in her key note address at the International Corporate Governance Network conference that took place in San Francisco this week. She said the regulator, along with companies and investors, needed to do more work on sustainability reporting including on whether, […]
Read MoreThe Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures set up by the Financial Standards Board has outlined the principles and objectives for its work. In its first report the Task Force said that despite a range of initiatives the existing climate-related disclosure remained fragmented and incomplete and there was only a limited number of reporting regimes focusing on […]
Read MoreThe US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled that oil giants, ExxonMobil and Chevron, need to include shareholder proposals at their AGMs requesting information on the impact on their businesses of the policies on reducing carbon emissions and responding to global warming. Both companies had sought permission to block a shareholder vote on the proposals […]
Read MoreThe US financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has fined global agri-business firm Monsanto $80 million for violating accounting rules and misstating company earnings in relation to its flagship product Roundup. The company has also agreed to retain an independent compliance consultant in its settlement with the SEC. Three accounting and sales executives have also agreed […]
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