Toomey Presses SEC on New Climate Enforcement Task Force
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) wants more information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about its recently announced climate and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) enforcement task force.
In
a letter to Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee, Senator Toomey wrote:
“These announcements appear to presage major changes in longstanding practices on disclosure and enforcement matters at the SEC. Such changes would be premature.”
“It is imperative that the SEC
provide fair notice, and fully comply with the Administrative Procedure Act if
it is going to impose new requirements. The SEC also should not use enforcement
actions as a backdoor for imposing new regulations on ESG and climate change
issues.”
The letter requests a briefing no later than the week of April 5, 2021 to better understand the scope and intention of this new task force and the SEC’s “enhanced focus” on climate and ESG-related priorities.
Earlier
this month, Ranking Member Toomey reacted
to a speech from Acting Chair Lee calling for increased mandatory corporate
disclosures on climate change, political donations, and other ESG issues,
saying:
“This would be a total abuse of power and a politicization of SEC’s disclosure standard. What matters is whether an issue is financially material to a reasonable investor, not if it conforms to the woke Left’s opinion about what’s best for humanity’s general welfare.”
Senator
Toomey also pressed Gary Gensler, President Biden’s nominee to lead the SEC, on
the issue of materiality during his nomination hearing earlier this month.
Watch the exchange here.
Read
the full letter here
or below.
March 24, 2021
The
Honorable Allison Herren Lee
Acting Chair U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549
Dear
Acting Chair Lee:
I
am writing to seek more information about the Securities and Exchange
Commission’s (SEC) recent announcement of a newly created enforcement task
force focused on climate and environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
This announcement came on the heels of two previous SEC press releases
trumpeting an “enhanced focus” on climate-related priorities and preceded a
speech you recently gave at the Center for American Progress calling for
increased mandatory corporate disclosures related to climate change, political
donations, and other ESG issues.
These
announcements appear to presage major changes in longstanding practices on
disclosure and enforcement matters at the SEC. Such changes would be premature.
As recently noted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the SEC has not yet
completed its review and updates to the 2010 SEC guidance regarding climate
change disclosures. Additionally, President Biden’s nominee to serve as SEC
chairman, Gary Gensler, is still pending confirmation.
It
is imperative that the SEC provide fair notice, and fully comply with the
Administrative Procedure Act if it is going to impose new requirements. The SEC
also should not use enforcement actions as a backdoor for imposing new
regulations on ESG and climate change issues. In order to better understand the
scope and intention of this new task force and the SEC’s “enhanced focus” on
climate and ESG-related priorities, I am requesting a staff briefing on this
subject by no later than the week of April 5, 2021.
If
you have any questions regarding this request, please have your staff contact
Sean Brebbia of the Committee staff at 202-224-7391.
Sincerely,
Pat
Toomey
Ranking Member
cc:
The Honorable Sherrod Brown, Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
###
Next Article Previous Article
