J. Paul Forrester

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The risk of an accusation of “greenwashing” is now an important concern for many companies. Greenwashing is an ill-defined concept but, nevertheless, is increasingly a source of litigation and regulatory scrutiny – with more of both expected. It carries with it reputational, regulatory and litigation risks for which companies should be prepared. Whilst the risks…

On 28 February 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the creation of the European Green Bond Standard (“EU GBS“).

Background

The idea of an EU Green Bond Standard has been in development for many years. An initial proposal for a European standard for green bonds…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has issued proposed Rule 192 pursuant to Section 27B of the Securities Act of 1933. Section 27B requires the SEC to issue rules for the purpose of implementing that section’s prohibition against a securitization participant’s entering into a transaction that would involve or result in a material conflict of…

This article discusses the amendments adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in 2020 that modernize the offering related provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), and the communications safe harbors available to business development companies (“BDCs”) and closed-end funds (“CEFs”), including interval funds but excluding open-end funds, exchange-traded…

At an open meeting yesterday, May 25, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved two new proposals that will impact the fund and investment management industry. One of the proposals is directed solely at registered funds and business development companies (BDCs), while the other applies to registered funds, BDCs, registered investment advisers (RIAs)…

Underscoring the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures, the SEC has charged Vale S.A., a publicly traded Brazilian mining company, with making false and misleading claims about the safety of its dams prior to the January 2019 collapse of its Brumadinho dam. This Legal Update highlights allegations…

In an April 5, 2022 letter, 25 trade associations jointly criticized recent US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rulemakings and requested that the SEC provide longer, more appropriate comment periods (and more meaningful opportunity for comment-making) for its “ambitious” regulatory agenda.

Noting over 50 substantive areas of current SEC rulemaking efforts and that many…

In its 2022 Examination Priorities, issued on March 30, 2022, the Division of Examinations (“Division”) of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) uses the term “greenwashing” for the first time, as it outlined ESG as an area of continued focus for the Division.

Specifically, the Division stated that it will continue…

On March 21, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3:1, with only Commissioner Hester Peirce dissenting, to propose long-awaited rules that, if adopted, would require extensive reporting by public companies of climate change-related disclosure and related attestation (the “Proposal”). Comments on the Proposal are due 30 days after publication in the Federal…

On February 9, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted to propose a suite of new rules and amendments (the “Proposal”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. If adopted, the Proposal would significantly increase the compliance obligations of advisers to “private funds” and would fundamentally reorder the relative rights,…