Tag: climate disclosure rule litigation
Commissioner Crenshaw decries SEC action pulling the plug on defense of climate disclosure rules
As reported in this PubCo post, the SEC announced yesterday that it was ending its “defense of the rules requiring disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions”—the climate disclosure rules. In response to that action, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw issued this Statement Regarding Climate-Related Disclosures Rule Litigation: The Commission has Left the Building. She’s none too pleased with the SEC’s action—to put it mildly.
Surprise—not! SEC votes to terminate defense of climate disclosure rules
Today, the SEC announced that the Commissioners had voted to end the SEC’s “defense of the rules requiring disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions”—the climate disclosure rules. As you probably know, a number of challenges to the climate disclosure rule were consolidated as State of Iowa v. SEC in the Eighth Circuit, where briefs in the case had been filed. Then, in February, Acting Chair Mark Uyeda issued a statement advising that he had requested that the Court presiding over the litigation not “schedule the case for argument” in order to allow time for the SEC to rethink its position. And here it is: according to Uyeda, “The goal of today’s Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission’s involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules.”
Acting SEC Chair seeks a pause in SEC climate disclosure rule litigation
Yesterday, Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda issued a statement advising that he is requesting that the Court presiding over the SEC’s climate disclosure rule litigation not “schedule the case for argument” in order to allow time for the SEC to rethink its position. As you may know, a number of challenges to the climate disclosure rule were consolidated as State of Iowa v. SEC in the Eighth Circuit, where briefs in the case have been filed. However, for reasons explained in the Statement, Uyeda believes that the “rule is deeply flawed and could inflict significant harm on the capital markets and our economy.” As such, he said, the positions taken in the SEC’s briefs defending the SEC’s adoption of the rule are not reflective of his views. He believes that these views, particularly his concern that the SEC had no authority to adopt the rule, together with “the recent change in the composition of the Commission, and the recent Presidential Memorandum regarding a Regulatory Freeze, bear on the conduct of this litigation.” As a result, he maintains that “the Court and the parties should be notified of these changes.” Accordingly, he has directed the SEC staff to “notify the Court of the changed circumstances and request that the Court not schedule the case for argument to provide time for the Commission to deliberate and determine the appropriate next steps in these cases. The Commission will promptly notify the Court of its determination about its positions in the litigation.” Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw voiced her dissent, contending that what has really changed here has been “politics and not substance.” Does Uyeda’s move sound the death knell for the SEC’s climate disclosure rule?
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