Regulators and investors increasingly say boards of directors need more expertise to ensure they can respond to fast-changing politics, policy, and technology that threaten to undermine their businesses. In the U.K., government officials say boards need to think more about cyber. In the EU, they need to prepare for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Speaking at Compliance Week’s Third-Party Risk Management summit, Boards of the Future director Vera Cherepanova says that directors need to think broadly, rather than in specialties.
ESG/Social Responsibility
Posted inFinancial Services
DOJ says BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street pressed ESG goals to lower U.S. coal output
The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have bolstered a conservative legal effort to dismantle environmental, social, and governance-based investment strategies from three large asset managers by claiming they illegally conspired to artificially raise energy prices.
Posted inRegulatory Policy
Trump uses federal powers to defang state environmental laws
In support of President Donald Trump’s deregulation agenda, U.S. Department of Justice sued four states in its ongoing attempt to derail state efforts to force energy companies to pay for damage they caused to the environment.
Posted inRegulatory Policy
First he attacked the ‘S’ in ESG. Now Trump’s after the ‘E’ with an EO on state climate laws
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order slamming state-led efforts to address climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related laws.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
New York, California will require companies to report greenhouse gas emissions
Some companies doing business in California and New York may soon be required to report the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of their operations to state authorities, even as the federal rule for disclosing such emissions is on life support.
Posted inRisk Management
Republican-led SEC abandons climate rule; Dem commissioner calls move ‘unlawful’
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Republican leadership is abandoning the climate-related disclosure rule package passed last year by Democrats, hoping that the courts will kill regulations already on life support.
Posted inEthics & Culture
EU drives ‘omnibus’ of simplifications through landmark sustainability reporting directives
The European Commission has adopted proposals for radical simplifications to the EU’s trailblazing environmental regulations. The commissioners argue that this is a pragmatic response to changing global economics and indicates that they have listened to the concerns of smaller businesses that are struggling to comply with onerous and conflicting rules.
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Shareholders back Apple sticking to DEI goals as Trump blasts move
Tech giant Apple solidified its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, with 97 percent of shareholders rejecting an anti-DEI proposal, according to a public filing.
Posted inEthics & Culture
DEI programs are under attack. Compliance should help plan what comes next
U.S. President Donald Trump has proven himself to be a chaos agent in the opening weeks of his second term, firing federal workers, shuttering agencies, and issuing executive orders that attempt to upend policies and laws he doesn’t like.
Posted inEthics & Culture
U.K. Employment Rights Bill promises to thwart forced labor through new consolidated regulator
For the past decade, the United Kingdom has tried to make companies more directly accountable for forced labor in their supply chains. But lawyers warn that the government’s latest plans to beef up protections against worker violations risk being heavily watered down and poorly policed by regulators.