SEC Ends Defense of Climate-Related Disclosure Rules
On March 27, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had voted to end its defense of the final rules on the enhancement and standardization of climate-related disclosures for investors (the climate rules). This decision follows significant opposition to the climate rules from congressional leaders, trade associations, state attorneys general, and other business entities. (more…)
Jarkesy’s Potential Implications for EPA Administrative Proceedings
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided SEC v. Jarkesy,[1] holding that when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges a defendant has violated securities antifraud provisions and seeks civil penalties, the defendant is entitled to a jury trial in federal court under the Seventh Amendment. The ruling restricts the SEC’s use of its own in-house administrative tribunal with its own administrative law judges (ALJs), which the SEC has historically used to pursue antifraud claims. While the Court’s ruling focuses on the SEC, the principles underlying the decision may be applied more broadly to restrict the ability of other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to pursue civil penalties via their own administrative proceedings.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Stays Climate Disclosure Rule
On Thursday, April 4, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission or SEC) issued an order staying its March 6, 2024, Final Rules — The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors, Rel. Nos. 33-11275, 34-99678 (Mar. 6, 2024), 89 Fed. Reg. 21,668 (Mar. 28, 2024). As discussed in detail in Sidley’s March 12, 2024, alert here, the Final Rules require domestic and foreign registrants to include extensive climate-related information in public securities filings.
SEC Finalizes Climate-Related Disclosure Rules Ushering in a New Era of Public Company Climate Reporting
On March 6, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules that will require domestic and foreign registrants to include extensive climate-related information in their registration statements and periodic reports.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Federal District Courts’ Federal-Question Jurisdiction Over Federal Agencies’ Actions
On April 13, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court in Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission et al. unanimously held that federal district courts can hear constitutional challenges to an agency’s administrative enforcement powers without waiting for the outcome of administrative appeals to that action.
