“The ESG Report Just Got Merged Into The 10-K” Featuring Travis Wofford and Scott Janoe, Baker Botts & Dan Romito, PEP

Today we took on the challenge of unpacking the SEC's proposed climate disclosure rules and their potential implications. To help us do so, we had a panel of experienced leaders in the space join for a lively discussion that we hope will provide clarity and understanding. Our panel today includes Travis Wofford, Chair of the Corporate Department in Houston and Vice Chair of the Global M&A Practice and Scott Janoe, Chair of the Environmental, Safety & Incident Response Section from Baker Botts, and Dan Romito, Consulting Partner with Pickering Energy Partners.

The framework of our discussion included an overview of the proposed requirements and background on the buildup to the SEC's new proposals, the key SEC players involved (with some particular focus on the dissenting view from Commissioner Peirce), the likelihood of the proposed rules becoming final, what the disclosures would cost and the potential liabilities for public companies, the potential unintended consequences of these new regulations, whether the SEC should be the governing body addressing these disclosures, implications for small to large companies, the importance of materiality, and the "climate industrial complex," just to hit a few. We greatly appreciate Travis, Scott, and Dan sharing their perspectives and are hopeful these proposed SEC changes can be improved before they are ultimately implemented.

For further reading, Baker Botts has published a thought leadership piece. Statements are also available from SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, Commissioner Hester Peirce, and Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw.

Mike Bradley kicked us off with a look at equity and commodity performance for the week, noting US natural gas and Euro natural gas and commodity curves for natural gas vs. WTI crude oil. Colin Fenton helped us all make sense of the complex inflation situation with the Fed and talked about the recent inversion of the yield curve and how to interpret it.