Governance and stewardship news

New rules forcing asset managers and other financial services providers to disclose climate change risks will come into force later this year, the UK regulator has said.

The UK government has formally committed to investment in green business and to setting binding environmental targets.

The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) has urged the UK government to accelerate its push toward sustainable finance as part of its net zero goals. City Minister and Economic Secretary to the Treasury said, “the transition to sustainable finance is well underway and it is irreversible”.

The US Department of Labor is set to formally abandon Trump-era plans to introduce anti-ESG legislation, and will engage with stakeholders to introduce new rules.

Businesses and investors in Germany are facing a fresh wave of environmental regulation after the government unveiled a new green investment strategy.

The European Commission (EC) is making stringent new demands on companies’ reporting of their impact on the environment, as it looks to drive investors’ money towards the greenest firms.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the US is ready to rejoin the fight against climate change “after sitting on the sidelines for four years”.

A coalition of almost 200 US shareholder groups has launched a campaign to overthrow new SEC rules that they claim are an “an attack on corporate democracy”.

The financial services sector needs to “rethink our prescriptive approach” to environmental and societal problems, according to a leading US regulator.

The move to shift the setting of proxy fees by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to broker-dealer regulatory body Financial Industry Authority (FINRA) is continuing to develop as an SEC consultation period ended last week (14 April).

The number of shareholder resolutions on diversity at US companies has soared this year in the wake of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

Today, on Earth Day 2021 (22/04/2021), the world is talking about how we can 'Restore Our Earth'. To help you navigate the oncoming stream of information around this year's Earth Day theme, Minerva has released a new background briefing looking at how biodiversity can be integrated into investor stewardship.

The Charity Commission has re-issued guidance to charity trustees to end confusion over expectations for ethical or responsible investment.

NORGES to accelerating its #ESG agenda and plans to cut thousands of companies from its sovereign wealth fund and proposals to force disclosures by Norwegian businesses on human rights.

The UK government has peddled back on its clampdown on foreign takeovers of British firms, raising the threshold at which such deals would face government scrutiny.