Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Trump's SEC leader gives boardrooms more power

Liberty Energy

19/02/2025 17:06

By Ross Kerber
       Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. CEOs have battled socially
minded shareholder activists for years on all kinds of subjects
including efforts to split up Jamie Dimon's leadership roles at
JPMorgan  JPM.N  in the early 2010s and the big boardroom
shakeup at Exxon  XOM.N  in 2021. 
    
Those epic battles turned on the votes of investors large and
small as corporate leaders campaigned hard to win shareholder
backing. But new guidance issued by the top U.S. securities
regulator may have overturned that system, according to
financial experts and attorneys I spoke with for this week's
main story. You can read their take via the link below and by
the way, not everyone thinks the steps are all good news for
directors. 
    
This week I have also flagged stories about federal workers who
took a buyout offered by President Donald Trump's
administration, and about how HSBC pushed back its net-zero
target.
       
Please follow me on LinkedIn and/or Bluesky. Or get me via 
    
Trump's SEC leader shifts power from investors to boardrooms
New policies from the top U.S. securities regulator hand
corporate boards more power over investors in ways that could
curtail reform efforts on everything from climate policy to
director contests.
    
Since last month when Trump named Mark Uyeda acting chair of the
Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency has made it
easier for boards to block shareholder resolutions, put stricter
filing requirements on passive funds, and limited investors'
communication abilities.  
    
The changes sparked concerns, and not just from ESG-minded
shareholder activists. Jessica Strine, CEO of shareholder
advisory firm Jasper Street Partners, said the SEC's new
interpretations could have a potential downside for companies as
well if they cannot know what their top investors think.
    
"It's not a complete gift to management teams if it means they
no longer have engagement opportunities with their top
shareholders," she said. "That means they don't get to make
their case" before votes are cast at annual meetings on matters
like executive compensation.
    
    Click here to read my full write-up.
    
Company news  
Citing slow change in the economy HSBC  HSBA.L  pushed back its
net-zero target by 20 years, to 2050, adding to fears from
campaigners that the world's top lenders are rowing back their
climate pledges.
    
Financial firms hated the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau. But its rapid undoing by the Trump administration is
causing upheaval among those it regulates, according to our
story you can read here.
    
Bumble  BMBL.O  shares were lower on Wednesday after the dating
app operator forecast below-expected revenue, as it grapples
with a slowdown in the growth of paying users.    
    
On my radar  
Every one of the 75,000 federal workers who accepted a
resignation buyout has a different story. My colleagues
interviewed five of them including a worker trying to get ahead
of a layoff, one who planned to retire anyway, and a single
mother trying to balance a work-in-person mandate with a daycare
dropoff.
          
A Washington-based U.S. District Court judge declined to
immediately block Elon Musk's government efficiency department
from directing firings of federal workers or accessing
databases, but said the case raises questions about Musk's
apparent unchecked authority. 
    
A federal judge in Texas upheld a Biden-era rule allowing
socially conscious investing by employee retirement plans. The
judge rejected arguments by 26 Republican-led states, an energy
trade group and Liberty Energy  LBRT.N  that the rule was
inconsistent with federal law.

 (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((mailto:ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))