SEC Shuns ESG Labels for Reporting, Focuses on New Risks Instead

The SEC is distancing itself from environmental, social and governance labels for corporate disclosures, with an agency official saying Thursday the commission concentrates on “emergent risks,” instead of using the ESG tag.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is interested in how its disclosure rules are responsive to investor needs, said Mellissa Campbell Duru, deputy director for legal and regulatory policy in the agency’s Division of Corporation Finance. The agency doesn’t emphasize one type of risk over another and wants all material risks disclosed, whether or not they are labeled as ESG, she said.

“We’re not identifying ‘x’ ...