SEC orders Invesco to pay $17.5M over misleading investors about ESG assets
By 
Adrianne Appel2024-11-11T15:42:00
Invesco Advisors agreed to pay $17.5 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle allegations that the company misled investors about the extent of its assets that included environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.
The SEC also faulted Invesco for lacking any written policy defining ESG integration, which the agency warned firms about in April. The settlement is an example of heightened scrutiny the SEC has placed on firms that fail to comply with its updated marketing rule.
In 2019, an internal Invesco report found that at least $370 billion of assets under management at the company were at risk of being abandoned by clients who would move to other firms, because they wanted ESG-based investments, according to the order.
Related articles
-
News BriefDOJ 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.
-
News BriefWisdomTree pays $4M SEC fine for including fossil fuel, tobacco securities in ESG funds
Fund management company WisdomTree will pay $4 million to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it improperly invested in fossil fuel and tobacco companies in environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds despite promising to avoid them.
-
News Brief
SEC risk alert warns investment advisers of marketing rule missteps
Examiners with the Securities and Exchange Commission found investment advisory firms have generally done well creating processes to comply with the agency’s amended marketing rule but some have fallen short in ensuring compliance.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
ArticleSenate Democrats question Vought on comments about closing CFPB in months
Senate Democrats warned OMB Director Russell Vought Tuesday that it would be illegal for the Trump administration to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, citing a recent court decision barring actions that could severely harm the agency.
-
PremiumAssessing the impact of the DOJ’s monitorship policy six months in
It has been nearly six months now since the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division released its memorandum on the selection of compliance monitors. This article provides a critical analysis of the monitorships that received early terminations, those that remain in place, and the broader compliance lessons they impart.
-
News BriefBinance’s Changpeng Zhao receives presidential pardon from Trump
The founder of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, received a pardon from President Donald Trump. This pardon comes almost two years after Zhao signed a plea agreement and was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence.