It’s April, and time for our annual update on the SEC’s Climate-Related Disclosure rule. I say that a bit tongue in cheek because in reviewing past IR Update Weekly columns, I see this also happened to be the topic on April 18, 2023, and April 12, 2022.
 
Proposing and approving this far-reaching and consequential rulemaking was obviously a lengthy process. But a very brief status review indicates the hard part for the Commission may be what lies ahead.
 
As expected, the final rules (adopted by the SEC on a 3-2 vote on March 6) were immediately subject to litigation by companies, states, NGOs, and climate advocates who generally argued the rules either went too far or not far enough. The various challenges were consolidated in the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the SEC announced it is voluntarily staying its rules pending judicial review in the hope this will speed resolution.
 
Additionally, this month the US House Financial Services Committee passed a disapproval resolution along party lines under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the rule, and the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee released a Senate version. The future of these resolutions is unclear.
 
For other perspectives, I recommend reviewing some of the law firm updates available in the public domain, particularly those published after April 4, the day the SEC issued its stay order.

 

NIRI will continue to provide updates through our suite of IR Update publications (Daily, Weekly, magazine), as well Executive Alerts, webinars and the upcoming NIRI 2024 Annual Conference.
 
Perhaps we’ll even discuss it again right here in April 2025!
 
Sincerely,
Matt