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19 07, 2023

CLIMATE16

2023-07-19T11:12:21-04:00July 19th, 2023|5- Client Report|

HFSC GOP Targets NGOs, Banking-Agency Climate Scenarios/Principles

As anticipated, Republicans continued their campaign against ESG at today’s HFSC Financial Institution Subcommittee hearing on climate risks, reiterating arguments that a regulatory focus on climate risk signals financial institutions to cease lending to carbon intensive industries.  Chairman Barr (R-KY) strongly criticized the banking agencies’ involvement in climate policy, singling out Fed Vice Chair Barr and linking the failure of other Fed Governors to see the SVB report to what he believes will be an opaque, biased report on climate scenario data.  Committee Democrats strongly defended the banking agencies’ climate work, stressing the climate risk materiality.  The banking agency witnesses all emphasized that none of their agencies tell banks to whom they can lend, focusing solely on financial risk and deferring climate policy to Congress.  A witness clearly added by committee Democrats countered the GOP’s anti-ESG focus by noting that local governments have been fiscally hamstrung by state-level anti-ESG laws.

CLIMATE16.pdf

18 04, 2023

CRYPTO41

2023-04-18T16:52:35-04:00April 18th, 2023|5- Client Report|

HFSC GOP Hammers Gensler on Crypto, Climate

As anticipated, HFSC’s hearing today with Chairman Gensler was a raucous affair which, while divided sharply on party lines when it comes to Mr. Gensler, also laid out general agreement on matters such as the need for stablecoin legislation (the topic of a high-profile hearing tomorrow).  Mr. Gensler did not begin on a positive note, providing what many on both sides saw as a confusing answer when asked for a clear distinction between securities and commodities.  Democrats were also not united in his defense when it came to governing cryptoasset by enforcement, not regulation; as noted in this report, they were more aligned when it comes to climate-risk disclosures.

CRYPTO41.pdf

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