Bessie Daschbach Discusses With Law360 How the SEC's Decision to Drop ESG as an Examination Priority for 2024 Will Impact Businesses

October 24, 2023

Hinshaw partner Bessie Daschbach was recently interviewed by Law360, discussing how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to drop ESG from its 2024 priorities will affect businesses.

Daschbach likened the lack of ESG in the SEC's list of priorities to the side of town without a speed camera:

"Just because the SEC has concluded that its resources are best allocated at that intersection where everybody seems to be speeding, and they need to get a handle on that, that doesn't mean that the rules of play, the rules of the road, elsewhere have changed."

Although the SEC did not list ESG as a priority for the upcoming year, Dashbach said, "there are a couple of data points that suggest — regardless of where the SEC says its enforcement priorities are — they're still on task." She said that general counsel remains responsible for their organization’s overall legal health and should be cautious about putting too much stock in the SEC’s announcement as to its examination priorities.

Daschbach said companies should still take care in responding to their stakeholders' ESG-related demands, adding, "I don't see that the SEC's pronouncements as to where its priorities are suggests that any of that is going away."

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