Expert Analysis

• New FCA Listing Rules May Start Regulatory Shift On Diversity

  

  Listed companies that fail to meet new Financial Conduct Authority rules for minimum executive board diversity currently risk reputational damage mainly through social scrutiny, but should prepare for potential regulatory enforcement actions, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• The Case For Company-Directed Offensive ESG Litigation

  

  Rather than treat environmental, social and governance litigation as a source of liability, there is a serious benefit for companies and their lawyers to evaluate and pursue offensive ESG litigation, says Bob Koneck at Woodsford.

• How ESG Matters Are Influencing M&A Due Diligence Trends

  

  With a proliferation of environmental, social and governance-related regulatory developments and a desire to comply with best practice, ESG matters have become an increasingly important area of focus for both clients and advisers in M&A transactions, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

• Steps Toward Eliminating Slavery In Apparel Supply Chains

  

  To minimize regulatory, operational and reputational risks associated with human trafficking activity, apparel companies should assess whether they have sufficiently robust and accurate reporting on their end-to-end supply chains, and ensure they can meet U.S. Customs and Border Protection evidentiary requirements, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

• New Anti-Modern Slavery Bill Unlikely To Accomplish Goals

  

  A new bill has been introduced to increase the accountability of organizations to tackle modern slavery, but without requiring the establishment of a corporate strategy and imposing sanctions for noncompliance, the U.K.'s response to modern slavery in general is unlikely to meaningfully improve, says Alice Lepeuple at WilmerHale.

• ESG Regs Abroad Offer Road Map For US Multinational Cos.

  

  Recent regulations in the European Union and United Kingdom mandate certain companies to disclose climate-related and other environmental, social and governance information to investors, serving as a harbinger of things to come in the U.S., say Petrina McDaniel and Shing Tse at Squire Patton, and Kimberly Chainey at AptarGroup.

• How Will UK Use New Penalties For Debt-Dodging Directors?

  

  Thomas Shortland at Cohen & Gresser discusses the scope of the new disqualification regime for company directors who dissolve their businesses to avoid paying back state COVID-19 loans, and identifies factors that may affect how frequently the government exercises the new powers.

• How Immune Are State Agents From Foreign Courts?

  

  The ongoing case of Basfar v. Wong is the latest to raise questions about the boundary between commercial or private activity and the exercise of sovereign authority that shields state agents from foreign judicial scrutiny — and the U.K. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in the matter will likely bring clarity on exceptions to the immunity doctrine, say Andrew Stafford QC and Oleg Shaulko at Kobre & Kim.

• Human Rights-Focused Lending Models Can Curb Trafficking

  

  In light of increased environmental, social and governance attention and the 10th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the financial sector should expand and align its anti-trafficking efforts with ESG measures by linking human rights outcomes to lending frameworks, say Sarah Byrne and Ed Ivey at Moore & Van Allen.

• Green Investments Are Not Immune To ESG Scrutiny

  

  As investment informed and motivated by environmental, social and governance considerations accelerates, companies and investors in the green technology sector must keep in mind that regulators, consumers and communities will not grant them free passes on the full range of ESG concerns, say Michael Murphy and Kyle Guest at Gibson Dunn.

• What G-7 Xinjiang Focus Means For UK And US Companies

  

  Attorneys at King & Spalding consider the shifting legal and political landscape, highlighted at last month's G-7 summit, around eradicating forced labor in China’s northwest Xinjiang region, and what U.K. and U.S. businesses with supply chain exposure should do to mitigate their legal, financial and reputational exposure.

• UK Employment Case May Lead To New Discrimination Suits

  

  The recent Maya Forstater case before the U.K. Employment Appeals Tribunal, concerning whether gender-critical beliefs are a protected characteristic, could provoke an influx of discrimination cases on the basis that philosophical beliefs could trump other protected characteristics, says Jules Quinn at King & Spalding.

• Opinion

  Nestle Ruling Shows Supply Chain Human Rights Flaws

  

  The Supreme Court's recent ruling in Nestle v. Doe — blocking claims that chocolate makers aided and abetted child slavery in Africa — underscores the need for federal legislation to ensure that U.S. corporation supply chains are not complicit in human rights abuses overseas, says Alexandra Dufresne at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

• Addressing Environmental Justice As Part Of ESG Initiatives

  

  Recent calls for racial equity and government regulators' increasing focus on social and environmental concerns make this a good time for companies to integrate environmental justice into their environmental, social and governance efforts, say Stacey Halliday and Julius Redd at Beveridge & Diamond, and Jesse Glickstein at Hewlett Packard.

• 2 UK Pension Cases Guide On 3rd-Party Due Diligence

  

  The U.K. Court of Appeal's recent decision in Adams v. Options UK, and upcoming hearing in Financial Conduct Authority v. Avacade, highlight important precautions self-invested personal pension operators should take when dealing with unauthorized third parties, says Paul Ashcroft at Wedlake Bell.