Attention FAE Customers:
Please be aware that NASBA credits are awarded based on whether the events are webcast or in-person, as well as on the number of CPE credits.
Please check the event registration page to see if NASBA credits are being awarded for the programs you select.

Want to save this page for later?

News

SEC Quietly Shuts Down Its ESG Task Force

By:
Karen Sibayan
Published Date:
Sep 16, 2024

 

GettyImages-1306922625-ESG-all-blue-240

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stealthily shut down its Enforcement Division’s Climate and ESG Task Force, Bloomberg Law reported . For more than three years, the task force assisted in bringing litigation to fight misleading environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures.

The shutdown happened in the last few months, an SEC spokesperson disclosed to Bloomberg Law.

The SEC announced in March 2021 the creation of the Climate and ESG Task Force led by Kelly Gibson, then-acting deputy director of enforcement. The task force had 22 members from the SEC’s headquarters, regional offices and enforcement specialized units.

According to the report, the group went on to assist with cases against Bank of New York Mellon and Goldman Sachs, among other high-profile financial institutions.

In a statement, the SEC spokesperson described the strategy as effective, while adding that “expertise developed by the task force now resides across the Division,” Bloomberg Law reported. 

Bloomberg Law said that the SEC and firms are increasingly shying away from the term “ESG” and keeping programs in the area "in limbo." Given the ongoing anti-ESG backlash, they are also using other language to refer to these initiatives. 

Last year, the SEC removed ESG from a list of priorities for its examiners, who check whether investment firms comply with its rules.

The report also points out that the SEC is probably not going to finish major pending ESG regulations in the less than five months SEC Chair Gary Gensler might have in his current position before the new president assumes office in January. Regulations mandating that firms report details on their workforce management and board members’ diversity are on the unfinished items list.

One of the telltale signs of the task force’s dissolution is that the web page that previously promoted its work disappeared in June, Bloomberg Law reported. The page listed 16 ESG-related enforcement actions from 2008 to 2022, half of which happened before the task force was started.

Based on a Bloomberg Law review of the agency’s website, the disappearance happened just before the SEC’s July 2024 announcement of SEC.gov’s revamp.