Executive branch agencies such as the SEC, CFTC, FTC and others have recently used their regulatory powers to advance ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria) policies that some consider beyond their core missions and outside of their legal authority. For example, the SEC has proposed climate change disclosure rules that are prescriptive as to the actions expected of public companies. Likewise, the FTC has asked “non-traditional” questions (e.g., environmental, governance, unionization status) during merger probes, and its draft strategic plans propose using antitrust and consumer protection to advance “racial equity, and all forms of equity.”
Institutional investors are also pushing ESG and corporate America is responding. Many companies have embraced “stakeholder capitalism” and as a result are taking public stands on voting rights, gun control, and other social issues.
Some are concerned about the economic and societal impact of these activities, and pushback is occurring in the form of judicial challenges to regulatory rulemaking, new state laws against divestiture and defunding of energy production and gun sales, and state antitrust investigations of institutional investor groups seeking environmental and social change at public companies.
Panelists will discuss the current state of play of “woke capitalism”, and efforts to address agency actions and those of private sector entities.
Featuring:

Mr. Jonathan Berry, Partner, Boyden Gray & Associates; Former Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor
Ms. Dalia O. Blass, Head of External Affairs, Blackrock; Former Director, Division of Investment Management, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Mr. Douglas Geho, Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, U.S. House Judiciary Committee
Hon. Christine S. Wilson, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
Moderator: Hon. Andrew Oldham, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit