In anticipation of SEC Chair Gensler’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee this week, the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance reiterates our support for the agency’s investor-driven transparency and disclosure agenda.

Access to clear, comparable information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors empowers investors and paves the way for more transparency across the capital markets. This is why the Alliance supports urgent SEC action on corporate and asset manager disclosure requirements around financially relevant factors like climate risks and workforce diversity.

“The SEC is heeding the demands of the investment community for standardized climate and workforce disclosures, in line with their mandate to protect investors,” said Fran Seegull, President of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance. “Chair Gensler understands that the current patchwork approach to reporting on these issues puts investors at a disadvantage when it comes to evaluating how well companies are addressing risks and opportunities. This regulatory agenda equips investors with the tools they need to make smart investment decisions, and it also boosts America's competitiveness on the global stage as other countries and regions implement their own climate and ESG reporting requirements,” Seegull continued.

Prudent investments should be based in strong risk management, and that requires access to clear and consistent data on financially relevant factors around good governance, environmental impact and community needs. The Alliance applauds the SEC and Chair Gensler for their leadership on these issues that are core to the agency’s mandate.