Regulation Archive

SEC chair Gary Gensler has given issuers a heads up on when they can expect to see the agency’s plans for requiring companies to report on climate risk and what that may entail. In remarks to the Principles for Responsible Investment last week, Gensler said he has asked the SEC staff to develop a mandatory climate risk disclosure rule proposal by the end of the year. He outlined elements he wishes to see in such disclosures, including that they are consiste...

The UK’s financial market regulator has finalized new rules for special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) in a bid to attract more ‘blank check’ listings to London. In April the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) began a consultation on Spacs after a government-backed report said the UK needed to ease ‘burdensome’ listing r...

The growth of corporate disclosure on ESG issues will offer new opportunities to activist investors as they search for evidence of underperformance, according to a recently released white paper. Activists are increasingly using ESG issues as a focus area in their engagement with issuers, but it can be hard to build a thesis when there is a lack of data showing how companies stack up against peers. ESG disclosure, already at record levels, is set to increase f...

The European Commission (EC) has proposed new sustainable reporting rules that would greatly expand the number of companies forced to disclose information on ESG issues.  European lawmakers said this week they plan to extend non-financial disclosure rules to large, unlisted companies and also bring in lighter requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  The changes mean around 50,000 companies will have to follow ‘detailed EU sustainabilit...