In a significant reversal, the Department of Labor (DOL) today announced they will not enforce the anti-sustainable investing rules that were hastily published in the final days of the Trump administration. The two rules, which went into effect in January 2021, would have made it much harder for retirement plans to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks into their investment practices.
Sustainable investing is on the rise, and many investors are asking corporations to disclose more information about their climate risks and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics. The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets recently held a hearing on
40 organizations joined AFR in a sign on letter to Congress strongly supporting the nomination of Gary Gensler as the next SEC chair.
On Feb 25, more than 145 organizations from across the United States sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, encouraging her to follow through on her promise to create a robust, well-staffed climate hub at Treasury led by a very senior-level person devoted full-time to climate.
On February 25, more than 145 organizations from across the United States sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, encouraging her to follow through on her promise to create a robust, well-staffed climate hub at Treasury led by a very senior-level person devoted full-time to climate.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund organized a letter to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) in response to their advanced notice of proposed rule making (ANPR) on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The letter outlined a number of guiding principles and approaches to ensure that any changes to the CRA framework would be limited to measures that will increase equity in bank investments and access to sustainable, wealth-building credit in underserved communities as the statute intended.
The Biden Administration today issued an Executive Order initiating an ambitious government-wide effort to tackle the climate crisis. Just one week into his term, President Biden has already re-entered the U.S. into the Paris Agreement and appointed strong climate leaders. What we need next from the Administration is a more detailed plan for how our federal financial regulators should engage in this effort. Financial regulation and supervision are pivotal tools the Biden Administration can use to help address the climate crisis in an equitable way.
Despite recent DOL rule changes, private retirement plan fiduciaries can still incorporate ESG factors into their investment actions to protect their participants’ retirement savings, maximize returns, and contribute to a more sustainable financial system. Here’s what you need to know.
The Department of Labor today dealt another blow to sustainable investing with a new rule aimed at private retirement plan fiduciaries. Incoming leadership at DOL must quickly reverse course on this rule and facilitate, rather than hinder, responsible retirement investing.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund signed onto a comment letter, organized by Public Citizen, opposing the OCC’s proposed rule “Fair Access to Financial Services” due to climate concerns. The letter urged the OCC to withdraw the proposal on the basis that it required banks to serve every category of high-risk business, with the express goal of increasing bank lending to risky fossil fuel companies and other polluting sectors, and without regard for strategic or reputational risk. The letter stated that the OCC lacked the legal authority to enact this proposed rule, that banks are acting prudently to exit the fossil fuel industry because of growing climate risk to the sector, and that the OCC should instead scrutinize and curb banks’ involvement with high-emission activities.