– The SEC voted to end its defense of the agency’s climate risk disclosure rule changes. Acting chair Mark Uyeda said in a statement: ‘The goal of today’s commission action and notification to the court is to cease the commission’s involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules.’
Following the vote, SEC staffer sent a letter to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stating that the commission withdraws its defense of the rules and that SEC lawyers are no longer authorized to advance the arguments in the brief the commission had filed.
– Reuters reported that, according to people familiar with the matter, the SEC is facing staff departures across key departments as hundreds have agreed to take resignation offers amid President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to remake the US government. Departures from the SEC, including by senior staffers and enforcement lawyers, could significantly hamper the agency’s efforts to police markets and protect investors, the people said.
Since the White House began offering voluntary departures across the civil service, more than 600 people have agreed to leave the SEC, the people said.
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment. Reuters could not determine exactly when those people would leave the agency. Spokespeople for the White House and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.
– Genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy protection in the US to help sell itself, as its CEO quit to pursue a bid for the business after several unsuccessful attempts, The Guardian reported. The company said it had started voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to ‘facilitate a sale process to maximize the value of its business.’
The company said CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki was stepping down. She has been pushing for a buyout but was rebuffed by 23andMe’s board.
Mark Jensen, the company’s chair, said: ‘After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business. We are committed to continuing to safeguard customer data and being transparent about the management of user data going forward and data privacy will be an important consideration in any potential transaction.’
Wojcicki will be replaced by CFO Joe Selsavage until a permanent replacement is found. She is however staying on the 23andMe board.
– The Wall Street Journal reported that Delaware Governor Matt Meyer signed a law that will make it harder for shareholders to sue companies. The law is an effort to halt threats by US companies to move their legal residences to other states. The law shifts power to controlling shareholders, often company founders, and away from smaller investors in a company’s stock. Executives of public companies have expressed frustration with the Delaware Court of Chancery, often following legal rulings that didn’t favor them.
– ING has become the first systemically important global bank to have its climate goals validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as being in line with efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to Reuters. The bank said in a statement that it had met the threshold for targets across its lending to fossil fuels, power generation, cement, steel, automotive, aviation and the commercial real estate sector.‘
As the first global systemically important bank with a validated science-based target, ING is showing how large financial institutions can support climate stabilization in the real economy,’ said Nate Aden, head of financial standards at the SBTi.
– The WSJ reported that Phillips 66 is nominating two new directors to its board amid an intensifying proxy battle with Elliott Investment Management. The oil refiner disclosed four nominees, including the two new ones, in its preliminary proxy statement on Wednesday. They will be up against Elliot’s slate of picks once that is finalized. Phillips 66 has a classified board, meaning that only some seats will be voted on at the company’s AGM in May.
On Tuesday, Elliott had filed a lawsuit against Phillips 66 and its board to require four board seats be up for election, arguing the company hadn’t given enough information about how many seats would be up for a vote and was violating its rights as a shareholder. Elliott said it would drop the lawsuit if Phillips 66 confirmed that at least four director seats would be up for grabs.
The company is also asking shareholders to approve declassifying its board.
Phillips 66 also advocated for keeping its existing strategy. The company said that ‘Elliott’s inconsistent approach and evolving demands would introduce undue risk by prioritizing uncertain short-term gains over a disciplined, long-term strategy.’
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
