Investment Week (October 28)
“Both the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have recommended regulators pay more attention to ESG ratings and data.” This is happening in the UK where the “government has passed legislation requiring providers of ESG ratings to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.” The authorization will apply to firms “whose ratings are likely to influence a decision to make a specified investment.” ESG rating firms “that both ‘produce’ and ‘make available’ their ratings will be under scope of the legislation.”
Tags: Authorization, Data, ESG ratings, Financial Conduct Authority, Government, Influence, Investment decision, IOSCO, Legislation, OECD, Recommended, Regulators, UK
New York Times (August 16)
“States have been competing for corporate charters since the late 1800s. The incentives are high: About 30 percent of Delaware’s revenue in 2024 came from franchise taxes.” But Texas has taken things to a new low, with recent legislation creating “a wild west for corporate governance” by helping corporations dodge proxy access. “Corporations incorporated or headquartered in Texas can restrict shareholder proposals to only their largest shareholders… owning at least $1 million in stock or 3 percent of the company.” Texas is also trying to muffle proxy advisors with measures that effectively block them “from siding against management on any shareholder proposal.”
Tags: Corporate charters, Corporate governance, Corporations, Delaware, Legislation, Muffle, Proxy access, Proxy advisors, Restrict, Shareholder proposals, Texas, Wild west
Institutional Investor (March 12)
“Sixty-eight percent of U.S. institutional investors do not use ESG in their portfolios.” They’ve been abandoning ESG as it “has become politicized, leading to state legislation banning the practice, lawsuits, and reputation concerns.” Elsewhere, in contrast, ESG investment is “forging ahead”. A recent global survey of 310 institutional investors, showed that “94 percent of European respondents have incorporated ESG into their investment process…. Within Asia, that portion is 86 percent.”
Tags: Banning, ESG, Global, Institutional investors, Investment, Lawsuits, Legislation, Politicized, Portfolios, Reputation, Survey Europe, U.S.
Institutional Investor (March 10)
“A politicized debate over the use of environmental, social, and governance principles in investing has led more than a dozen states to propose legislation that forces institutional investors to boycott certain companies, or bars the use of ESG factors entirely.” While BlackRock “has drawn the most attention from ESG critics.” Still, the massive asset manager has remained “an outspoken supporter of sustainability” and changed very little in its 2023 investment stewardship plan. BlackRock simply “doesn’t seem fazed, even as legislation and divestments could cause allocators to pull billions of dollars from the firm.”
Tags: 2023, Asset manager, Bars, BlackRock, Boycott, Critics, Debate, Divestments, ESG, Institutional investors, Investing, Investment, Legislation, Outspoken, Politicized, Stewardship, Supporter, Sustainability
The Guardian (February 26)
“Germany’s economic miracle was built on debt relief.” Today “unconditional debt relief” would help the poorest economies, countries that can’t reasonably repay their debts. “The biggest losers” should be private bondholders. “The UK and US should pass legislation requiring bondholders to take part in internationally agreed debt relief. The globalisation currently being orchestrated by the world’s richest countries is suffocating poor nations. What the German experience revealed is that removing the economic straitjacket would allow developing countries to breathe again.”
Tags: Debt relief, Debts, Economic miracle, Germany, Legislation, Poor nations, Private bondholders, Repay, Straitjacket, Suffocating, U.S., UK, Unconditional
Investment Week (December 21)
“The asset and wealth management industry is set to face a busy year of regulation, with the impact of recently passed legislation, including sustainability disclosure requirements and new listings rules, combining with that yet to come, such as long term asset funds. Past decisions will also bring change, as LIBOR also comes to an end this year, with very slim exception, while the spectre of Brexit is far from banished.”
Tags: Asset management, Brexit, Disclosure requirements, Funds, Impact, Legislation, LIBOR, Listings rules, Regulation, Sustainability, Wealth
The Oregonian (April 22)
Lawmakers in Oregon may pass “a bill that would require owners of new, fuel-efficient cars and trucks to pay a fee for every mile they drive beginning in 2026. The legislation is intended to help address what transportation officials say is a grim financial reality facing Oregon and other states: Gas taxes are not a sustainable way to pay for highway and street maintenance projects.”
Tags: Cars, Fee, Fuel-efficient, Gas taxes, Highway, Lawmakers, Legislation, Oregon, Street, Sustainable, Transportation, Trucks
The Oregonian (April 22)
Lawmakers in Oregon may pass “a bill that would require owners of new, fuel-efficient cars and trucks to pay a fee for every mile they drive beginning in 2026. The legislation is intended to help address what transportation officials say is a grim financial reality facing Oregon and other states: Gas taxes are not a sustainable way to pay for highway and street maintenance projects.”
Tags: Cars, Fee, Fuel-efficient, Gas taxes, Highway, Lawmakers, Legislation, Oregon, Street, Sustainable, Transportation, Trucks
Los Angeles Times (April 27)
“BPA and BPS lurk in products all around us, notably in plastics, and research has shown that most people have trace amounts in their bodies. But that the millions of paper receipts consumers handle every day might be another—and significant—source of exposure is not well known.” This is one of the reasons California may get behind legislation to ban large retailers and banks from offering paper receipts by 2022.
Tags: Ban, Bank, BPA, BPS, California, Consumers, Exposure, Legislation, Paper receipts, Plastics, Retailers
Gizmodo (January 26)
“We can’t rely on the market to create an ‘electric car revolution’ in Australia. Funding infrastructure, creating industry standards, legislating to reward and cheapen less-polluting cars, and educating the public are all part of the challenge.”
Tags: Australia, Education, EVs, Industry, Infrastructure, Legislation, Market, Pollution, Revolution, Standards
