The acronym ESG stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance. The force behind socially responsible investments is the willingness of investors to put their money where their beliefs are.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
In December 2020, NASDAQ submitted a proposed rule change to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to add a diversity requirement as a condition for listing on its electronic stock exchange. That proposal would require at least two “diverse” directors or officers and periodic disclosure of aggregate data on gender preference, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
Much earlier, both State Street Investors and BlackRock had called for the appointment of more women to corporate boards and indicated they would not vote for board candidates of companies that had no women on them. In a series of high profile sex abuse cases, which gave rise to the “Me Too” movement, and the sequential deaths of Black Americans killed by police and private violence, which spurred the Black Lives Matter protests, business leaders of all ilks saw it as both necessary AND appropriate to emphasize their commitment to a society that is both