SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee on the ESG Trinity: Disclosure, Materiality and Enforcement

How is regulatory change reshaping ESG investing? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Commissioner Allison Herren Lee of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, about the SEC’s evolving views around disclosure and materiality; its enforcement efforts; and the need to work towards greater harmonisation given the multitude of global disclosure frameworks.

Find the full transcript of the episode here.

Jason Mitchell, Co-Head Responsible Investment, Man Group:

If there’s a predominant theme in sustainable investing right now, it’s regulation. And in the broadest sense, regulation is taking on a number of forms: from driving the transition to a low carbon economy to reporting on the impacts of biodiversity; from enforcing anti-greenwashing protections to even steering private sector investment.

 It’s also clear that we’re talking about different global regulatory approaches that will increasingly need to harmonise. While the EU’s legislation-driven approach has already delivered a number of investor frameworks, the US SEC’s regulatory approach to climate and ESG is evolving under the new Biden administration. In my mind, this provides a fascinating view of the arguments for how to world-build around issues like disclosure, materiality and enforcement.

 And for followers of the regulatory discussion, you can’t have missed the incredibly thoughtful speeches and statements delivered by the US SEC Commissioners. Their views don’t necessarily align ideologically, but they always prove provocative and push the discussion forward.

 One of the views I always look forward to reading is from Commissioner Allison Herren Lee. Her writing examines many of the fundamental elements of ESG through the prism of case law, and she is not afraid to challenge its myths and misconceptions.

 It's why I’m so excited to have Commissioner Lee on the podcast. We talk about the SEC’s evolving views around disclosure and materiality; its enforcement efforts; and the need to work towards greater harmonisation given the multitude of global disclosure frameworks.

More about Commissioner Allison Herren Lee:

Commissioner Allison Herren Lee was appointed and sworn into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2019. While Commissioner Lee served as Acting Chair of the Commission by President Biden earlier this year, she was responsible for establishing the Climate and ESG Enforcement Taskforce. She brings to the SEC over two decades of experience as a securities law practitioner. Commissioner Lee served for over a decade in various roles at the SEC, including as counsel to Commissioner Kara Stein, and as Senior Counsel in the Division of Enforcement’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit.