ESG disclosures update

  1. The Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on July 10 on ESG disclosures. Five bills were introduced: (A) the ESG Disclosure Simplification Act of 2019, (B) the Shareholder Protection Act of 2019, (C) the Corporate Human Rights Risk Assessment, Prevention, and Mitigation Act of 2019, (D) to require issuers required to file an annual or quarterly report under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to disclose the total amount of corporate tax such issuer paid in the period covered by the report, and for other purpose, and (E) the Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2019. The committee memorandum can be found here.
  2. There is an interesting report by Ignites on the differences of the MSCI and Morningstar ESG ratings. Besides being informative on the methodologies, the article also notes how fiduciaries and investors still seek a standardized ratings and evaluation approach, which has not yet materialized.