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In this program, we will focus on SEC developments affecting, and practical aspects of preparing for, public companies’ annual meetings and annual reports.

On November 8, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settled enforcement action (the “SEC Order”) against Invesco Advisers, Inc. (“Invesco”), an investment advisory firm, for making misleading statements concerning the company-wide percentage of assets under management (“AUM”) that integrated environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors in investment decisions.

On November 5, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for summary judgment that sought to declare SB 253 and SB 261 (the “California Climate Laws”) invalid on their face under the First Amendment for compelling political speech.

Welcome to Vinson & Elkins’ Securities and ESG Updates.

The UK government is advancing efforts to accelerate the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which currently makes up only 0.17% of global aviation fuel use, despite industry targets of 10% by 2030.

On September 23, 2024, the State of California filed a new greenwashing salvo against an oil major by filing a plastics-related lawsuit in the San Francisco County Superior Court.

In the inaugural episode of Mining Matters, a series focused on developments in the mining sector, Vinson & Elkins hosts Ciara Ros and Nonku Zondo interview Victoria Usova, General Counsel at Central Asia Metals PLC, and Kezia Owusu-Ansah, Senior Associate at TEMPLARS Ghana.

Over the last few months, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) discretely disbanded the Climate and ESG Taskforce  (“ESG Task Force”) of its Division of Enforcement.

On June 18, 2024, the Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued (T.D. 9998) (the “Final Regulations”) regarding compliance with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements (the “PWA Requirements”) impacting many of the clean energy tax credits introduced or expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”).

In a potentially significant development that may impact the economics of aviation, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) is proposing a policy, as we previewed in January 2024, to update the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) program, whereby CARB would eliminate the existing exemption for intrastate fossil jet fuel from LCFS regulations beginning in 2028.

In a significant legal maneuver with potentially far-reaching implications, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amended complaint on June 10, 2024, to California’s high-profile lawsuit targeting five of the world’s largest oil companies: BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, as well as the American Petroleum Institute (“API”).

Due to the increased demand for critical minerals globally, Nabil Khodadad and Nonku Zondo explore how the African mining sector can benefit from and lead the energy transition.