The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took a step back and put their climate reporting rules for public companies on hold this Thursday amidst multiple legal challenges.
Decidedly the pause on the regulations was put into action after Liberty Energy Inc., the US Chamber of Commerce, Iowa, and the National Legal & Policy Center approached the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit asking for the regulations to be frozen as litigation continues.
Whilst the pause, formally referred to as a stay, was put in place, the SEC announced its commitment to “continue vigorously defending” the rules in a three-page order.
This decision doesn’t signal a retreat from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s position. The SEC pointed out that, “In issuing a stay, the Commission is not departing from its view that the Final Rules are consistent with applicable law and within the Commission’s long-standing authority to require the disclosure of information important to investors in making investment and voting decisions”.
Bloomberg Law published a comprehensive report on this development.