Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Viewpoints

California has enacted the nation’s first diversity mandate for public company boards. As we previously reported, the new law (AB 979) builds upon California’s first- in-the nation statutory gender mandate for public company boards.

Regardless of size or industry, thoughtful director appointment is critical to the success of any public company.  Yet following the departure of a director, many boards are left scrambling to locate and onboard a suitable replacement.  Even boards that purposely undertake to increase the number of directors may struggle to balance numerous (and sometimes competing) concerns.  Below are a few pointers for promoting good corporate governance practices when appointing a new director.

As the national conscience has elevated after the death of George Floyd regarding social justice and racial equality, many employers have begun to self-reflect on their own standing with communities of color and the Black community specifically. For many companies, the diversity and inclusion function has taken center stage to process concerns, facilitate trainings and determine metrics for progress. The recognition that more needs to be done on racial equity inside and outside the workplace has led to a record number of companies providing recognition of Juneteenth – a historic day for many African-Americans celebrating the reading of federal orders in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, which proclaimed slaves to be free.

Whether it is a company recognizing this event by initiating a new diversity action plan, facilitating a day of self-education and reflection on racial progress, or giving staff some form of PTO, here are some of my thoughts related to Juneteenth.

Learn about upcoming energy industry webinars, including one on impact investment strategies for family offices in a post-COVID-19 world hosted by Mintz.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee’s Investor-as-Owner Subcommittee recently voted 14-4 to approve a recommendation that urges the Commission (SEC) to begin an effort to update the reporting requirements of public companies to include material, decision-useful environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.

In the past several years, green bonds, sustainability bonds, social bonds, and bank loans with environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles embedded in loan pricing have been finding their way to market. Find out more about the importance and prevalence of these bonds here!

The world is changing! Over the last several years, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria have been an emerging focus in the investing world, primarily driven by equity investors where it can be harder for a company raising funds to correlate capital costs with ESG impact.

From the days of divesting assets from companies doing business in apartheid South Africa and withholding investments to protest big tobacco, values-based investing has come a long way. And it’s no longer just about hippie companies like Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, which pioneered the concept of corporate social responsibility. With impact investing, investors are now seeking to use the markets to solve the toughest challenges of our time, such as financial inclusion, climate change, access to health care, and affordable housing. So what exactly is impact investing?