Overview
- SEC staff have formally submitted a proposed rule to rescind the March 2024 climate-related disclosure requirements, a development reported Wednesday that launches an administrative review of the rule.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a coalition of 21 state attorneys general on Wednesday in a public letter arguing rescission would be arbitrary and would deprive investors of comparable climate risk information.
- Seventeen state financial officers filed a separate letter urging the SEC to scrap the rules, citing the Commission’s own economic estimate of about $4.9 billion in annualized compliance savings and roughly $7.9 billion in total savings from rescission.
- Legal and market analysts warn that removing the federal rule will reduce uniformity but will not eliminate securities, fiduciary, or directors-and-officers exposures because existing antifraud duties and overlapping state and international regimes remain.
- The underlying litigation that put the 2024 rules on judicial stay remains consolidated in the Eighth Circuit and the SEC’s decision not to defend the rules earlier leaves open a mix of outcomes including more state action, insurance disputes, and continued investor litigation that could affect public pension portfolios.