Attorney General Ken Paxton
Attorney General Paxton joined a West Virginia-led comment letter opposing a proposed SEC rule that would institute new unconstitutional requirements on ESG-related investment advisors and companies. The new rule mandates that funds disclose the greenhouse gas emissions of their portfolio, among other arduous requirements. This thinly-veiled attempt to target certain industries not only violates the First Amendment and the SEC’s materiality requirement, but it also threatens to limit investment in the vital energy sectors that the American people depend upon.
The letter spotlights how the proposed rule goes far beyond the scope of the SEC’s pro-consumer regulatory authority and instead allows it to push a radical social agenda. “Federal securities laws are a vital protection for investors across America,” the letter reads. “But now, the SEC has become more and more aggressive in implementing a political agenda untethered from its statutory mission. Beyond the legal problems in the Proposed Rule, the Proposed Rule worryingly ignores the interests of everyday Americans. We urge you to step away from imposing burdensome new requirements that only make investing more expensive. The Proposed Rule must not be finalized.”
This letter follows similar Paxton-led efforts against the SEC earlier this summer.
To read the letter click here.
