In this presentation from the 2016 ACC Annual Meeting, learn about sustainability disclosures in filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Increasingly, SEC filings have become a canvas for broad, aspirational statements on corporate environmental and social practices. Publicly traded companies now face overlapping and sometimes conflicting demands for transparency from the SEC, activist shareholders, customers, and non–governmental organizations on subjects as disparate as conflict minerals, climate change, material environmental liabilities, and social mandates. These disclosures, which inevitably carry some degree of subjectivity, are fraught with obvious risks, including SEC enforcement actions, shareholder lawsuits and civil litigation based on consumer deception or false advertising claims. Find tips for working with corporate colleagues and outside auditors to obtain information critical to making accurate and defensible disclosures that will highlight company accomplishments without creating unnecessary litigation or enforcement risk.