Securities and Exchange Commission acting Chair Mark Uyeda is beginning the agency’s widely anticipated pullback from a banner climate-risk reporting rule that’s being challenged in court by Republicans and business groups.
The Wall Street regulator’s interim leader said Tuesday that he has directed staff to request that the court not schedule oral arguments in the case “to provide for the Commission to deliberate and determine the appropriate next steps in these cases.” The rule, Uyeda said in a statement, is “deeply flawed and could inflict significant harm on the capital markets and our economy.”
“The Commission’s briefs previously submitted in the case consolidated in the Eighth Circuit do not reflect my views,” he said. “The briefs defend the Commission’s adoption of the Rule, but I continue to question the statutory authority of the Commission to adopt the Rule, the need for the Rule, and the evaluation of costs and benefits.”
In pushing the court to hold off on hearing the case, Uyeda’s SEC appears to be starting the rollback on what was one of the most ambitious and contentious pieces of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s sweeping agenda. Since President Donald Trump’s election, many in Washington have been expecting an aggressive unwinding of Gensler’s efforts, including on cryptocurrency markets and the climate rule.
