Tag: economy and society

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. OCC finds nine major banks engaged in debanking practices  What’s the story? The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a report on Oct. 14 examining policies and practices at the nine largest national banks it supervises between 2020 and September 2025.…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. SEC ends climate-investor investigation, warns of disclosure obligations What’s the story? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a report on Oct. 7 about their investigation into whether large asset managers complied with federal disclosure requirements during a 2021 campaign to elect new directors…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. Supreme Court hears major climate liability case What's the story? The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Oct. 5 in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, a case concerning whether federal law prevents state and local governments from using state law to seek damages…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In the states State attorneys general ask SEC to scrutinize Moody’s ESG practices What’s the story? On Sept. 24, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) sent a letter asking the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Credit Ratings to scrutinize Moody's over its use of environmental, social,…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. USDA restricts ESG spending in dairy checkoff program What’s the story? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Sept. 17 that it will no longer allow dairy checkoff funds to support projects advancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks, net-zero targets, or climate-neutrality initiatives.…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. EPA repeals power plant carbon standards What’s the story? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 14 repealed most Biden-era carbon emissions standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants and proposed eliminating remaining federal greenhouse gas requirements for the power sector. EPA Administrator Lee…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In the states Federal judge blocks New York climate superfund law  What’s the story? Chief Judge Brenda Sannes of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York blocked New York's Climate Change Superfund Act on Aug. 31, ruling that federal law preempts the state's…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. SEC moves to eliminate shareholder proposal rule, shift power to states What’s the story? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted a proposed rule for interagency review on Aug. 28 that would rescind Rule 14a-8, the federal regulation requiring public companies to include qualifying…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. Treasury proposes ESG restrictions for Trump Accounts What’s the story? The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposed a rule on Aug. 21, 2026, that would exclude funds focused on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors from Trump Accounts. Trump Accounts are…

In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: In Washington, D.C. SEC makes shareholder proposal no-action pause permanent What’s the story? The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance announced on Aug. 14, 2026, that it will permanently stop responding to no-action requests under Rule 14a-8. The rule governs when shareholders may place…