Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Public Citizen submitted a joint comment letter to the SEC calling for mandatory climate and ESG disclosures for all issuers, in response to Commissioner Allison Herren Lee’s Request for Public Input. “A growing chorus of bipartisan U.S. financial regulators
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Public Citizen were joined by 60 organizations and securities law experts in a comment letter to the SEC calling for mandatory climate and ESG disclosures for all issuers.
Gary Gensler has a strong track record from his time at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission of being willing to take on powerful industries. Under his leadership, this small and underfunded agency led the way to the first comprehensive regulation of U.S. over-the-counter derivatives markets, despite heavy opposition from industry lobbyists. Gensler will need to bring the same spirit and drive to the even greater task of bringing needed reform to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
By creating a blanket exemption for a broadly defined group of “finders” to effectively act as solicitors and brokers in private investment markets without being subject to any of the requirements on registered broker-dealers as regards disclosure, qualifications, obligations to customers, pricing, record-keeping, business conduct, financial resources, or compliance with FINRA rules, the Commission would abrogate its responsibilities to protect investors and to maintain fair and orderly markets.
AFR Education Fund sent the letter below to the Securities and Exchange Commission opposing changes to rules governing how corporations can raise investment capital. These rules would make it easier for companies to raise capital without doing basic disclosures about their business or following other
Today, the SEC finalized a rule that will allow financial professionals to claim they are required to act in investors’ best interests. But “Regulation Best Interest” falls far short of what ordinary investors need to ensure they don’t fall prey to self-interested advice.
Everyone who lived through the ENRON debacle, the 2008 financial crisis, or high school math class knows that when it comes to complex calculations, it’s good practice to have someone else check your work to confirm that you got it right.
The regulators must act on the same principles in approaching fiduciary rulemakings; anything less leaves investors vulnerable to losing billions of dollars a year to ‘advisors’ who pitch investments that produce greater returns for themselves, but leave the clients earning less.