The SEC has been active in February in the environmental, social and governance (环境、社会和治理) space.
The long-awaited Issuer Proposal finally has its date set to be voted on, and the SEC has provided more context into what it’s looking for in public-facing disclosures. 另外, one of the SEC’s directors has provided his insights into the current state of the 环境、社会和治理 disclosure landscape, 公司最佳实践, 并回顾最近的执法行动.
2024年2月的主要环境、社会和治理更新是什么?
证券交易委员会发行人建议- 美国证券交易委员会已经提交了一份 阳光法案公告 indicating that a vote will take place on the proposed legislation on Wednesday, March 6th 美国东部时间上午9点45分. 没有包括有关修改规则的其他细节, 但有传言称3号范围将被完全移除, and Scope 1 and 2 will require disclosure under the auspices of materiality.
这首先完成了一些事情, it allows the legislation to proceed under a timeframe that the current administration can implement prior to the possible end of its tenure. Second, the scaled-back ambition makes it more likely that the ruling will survive legal battles.
最后, the legislation creates a steppingstone for companies to be assured that their disclosures on Scope 1 & 2 in addition to 环境、社会和治理 items in their financial statements have a framework to rely on.
SEC执法行动 ——在2月23日rd 对国会议员的演讲 俄亥俄州立法律杂志, 导演Gurbir S. Grewal gave his thoughts on 公司最佳实践 in the 环境、社会和治理 disclosures space in addition to recapping enforcement actions that were brought about in 2023 against companies.
What Best Practices did Director Grewal Outline for Companies’ 环境、社会和治理 Disclosures?
署长概述了公司需要做以下工作:
- 实践主动遵从
- 向证券交易委员会报告潜在的违规行为
- Evaluate public-facing statements for exaggerations or misleading content
- 确保没有故意遗漏负面信息
- Review 环境、社会和治理 investment strategies for end-to-end integration of the guiding 环境、社会和治理 principles
2023年有哪些重大的环境、社会和治理执法行动?
- 淡水河谷——该公司被罚款 $55.900万年 related to a dam collapse that occurred in 2019, resulting in the deaths of 270 people. 在SEC文件和环境、社会和治理披露中, Vale insisted that the dam was safe while downplaying the potential risks related to the dam’s stability.
- 麦当劳——公司的 首席执行官于2019年被解雇 因为不正当的私人关系而“毫无理由”. The company failed to disclose that it had exercised discretion in determining his firing ‘without cause’, which allowed him to retain stock-related compensation worth about $40 million.
- Deutsche Bank – the Firm indicated publicly that 环境、社会和治理 considerations were integrated into its investments. 在 证券交易委员会审查, it was found that employees responsible for integration of those factors were not following through in its investment processes. 该公司因此支付了1900万美元的罚款.
公司现在应该做什么?
- Determine which public-facing disclosures you have the in-house knowledge to verify, and which will require third party qualitative and quantitative expertise.
- Identify an SME and a control person internally for each data point and material 环境、社会和治理 topic.
- Perform a gap assessment of your current practices relative to regulatory expectations and leading 环境、社会和治理 frameworks.
- Substantiate your data collection and data governance processes in areas where you’re disclosing facts and figures in your 环境、社会和治理 report or in general financial statements.
- 检查您的治理结构和相关的编译过程, 批准, 发布环境、社会和治理信息.
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