Jefferies Analysts Warn of New Divisions in US: ESG Regulation

The US market may soon become an even more difficult place for ESG investors.

As asset managers and investors wait for the US Securities and Exchange Commission to enforce nationwide climate-disclosure requirements, lawyers are pointing to a growing risk that states will move ahead with legislation that potentially puts them at loggerheads with the SEC and each other, leaving investors in a legal gray zone.

Such fragmentation “is going to result in more disclosure and potentially more variance across disclosure,” Julia Malkina, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, said last week at a US Chamber of Commerce ...