“Everyday investors who rely on financial returns for their retirement savings bear the brunt” of the harm of the Biden Administration and activist investment firms prioritizing environmental, social and governance (ESG) political goals, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) warns.
“The SEC is not a climate regulator, nor has Congress authorized it to mandate environmental policy via the disclosure [mandate] regime,” the House Financial Services Committee chairman explained at a hearing examining the Biden Administration’s efforts to use financial regulations to bypass Congress and impose its ESG policies.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a disturbing trend in the Biden Administration’s approach to regulating our capital markets, particularly at the Securities and Exchange Commission,” Rep. McHenry said last Wednesday during his opening remarks:
“Rather than focusing on sound financial regulation, the SEC has turned its attention towards non-material environmental, social and political issues. This misguided approach has led to increased costs and burdens to those participating in U.S. public markets.”
“These politically-motivated regulations not only discourage private companies from going public, but also hinder the competitiveness of American public companies” which, in turn, hurts profits and investment returns, McHenry noted:
“I support shareholder democracy – but, it should be their say, not external third-parties who exploit the existing process to impose their own political and social beliefs into, and onto, American public companies.
“This undermines the very principles of democracy and transforms corporate board rooms into political platforms, overshadowing sound financial decision-making.
“Ultimately, this harms everyday investors in our public markets.”
The regulatory burden placed on public companies by the SEC should be lightened – not bloated by the SEC’s 500-page proposed mandatory climate disclosure rule, which would require additional reporting on matters that have nothing to do with companies’ actual businesses, McHenry said:
“It’s time to get politics out of corporate board rooms and discourage financial regulation from being weaponized to drive far-left environmental and social policy.”
Editor's Note: This piece was originally published on MRCTV.org
