Capital Markets & Governance Insights: SEC Developments
SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Developments In early March 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings. Less than a month later, the SEC voluntarily stayed the application of those rules pending completion of judicial review by the Eighth Circuit. That stay […]
Craig Marcus and Paul Tropp are Partners at Ropes & Gray LLP. This post is based on a Ropes & Gray memorandum by Mr. Marcus, Mr. Tropp, Thomas Fraser, Christopher Capuzzi, Marc Rotter, and Kunle Deru.
SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Developments
In early March 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings. Less than a month later, the SEC voluntarily stayed the application of those rules pending completion of judicial review by the Eighth Circuit. That stay remains in effect.
On March 27, 2025, the SEC voted to end its defense of those rules in the ongoing litigation. Despite the SEC’s decision to no longer defend its climate disclosure rules, the litigation remains ongoing. On April 4, 2025, however, the District of Columbia, along with several states that intervened in the litigation, filed a motion seeking to put the litigation on hold considering the SEC’s withdrawal from defending the rules; the State of Iowa, one of the petitioners, has opposed that motion. Even if the Eighth Circuit denies the motion and goes on to rule in favor of the SEC’s climate disclosure rules, the current SEC could begin a new notice and comment rulemaking process to formally rescind those rules.
