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.