May 14, 2024
Lawyers for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq Stock Market LLC faced a barrage of questions from the full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday, with judges wondering whether rules requiring corporations to disclose board diversity information would open the door to investor questions on religious practices, political beliefs or Taylor Swift fandom.
May 07, 2024
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund urged the Fifth Circuit not to upend a Nasdaq Stock Market rule meant to encourage corporate board diversity, saying in a brief Monday that the rule's opponents have staked out a "radical" position on the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution that threatens to "entrench ... barriers to opportunity."
April 18, 2024
Utah and 23 other Republican-led states have filed an amicus brief asking the full Fifth Circuit to vacate a Nasdaq board diversity rule and declare it unconstitutional, saying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which approved the rule, is "affirmatively perpetuating" race-based discrimination instead of eliminating it.
March 22, 2024
Conservative groups opposing a requirement that Nasdaq-listed companies publicly disclose board diversity data are pressing the full bench of the Fifth Circuit to declare the rule unconstitutional, arguing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's involvement in the rulemaking process transforms the requirement into an unconstitutional restraint on free speech.
February 20, 2024
The Fifth Circuit agreed Tuesday to rehear en banc a lawsuit challenging a Nasdaq board diversity rule that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had approved, granting conservative groups that brought the lawsuit another shot at overturning a rule that requires Nasdaq-listed companies to disclose board diversity data.
January 01, 2024
In 2024, courts across the U.S. are likely to weigh in on some of the most politically charged legal battles over corporate and regulatory efforts to prioritize environmental, social and governance initiatives, with the future of corporate diversity policies, anti-pollution efforts and corporate greenwashing hanging in the balance.
December 19, 2023
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing back on a request that the full Fifth Circuit decide the fate of a Nasdaq Stock Market rule requiring corporations to disclose board diversity data, arguing that conservative groups opposed to the rule cannot point to any court rulings in their favor and that the case presents no questions of "exceptional importance" that demand a circuit court review.
November 29, 2023
Republican attorneys general from 19 states have backed two conservative groups' bid for another shot at overturning a Nasdaq Stock Market requirement that makes exchange-listed companies publicly disclose board diversity data, arguing the rule violates the Constitution's equal protection clause.
October 25, 2023
Conservative groups on Wednesday asked the Fifth Circuit for another shot at overturning a Nasdaq Stock Market requirement that exchange-listed companies publicly disclose board diversity data, arguing that a recent court ruling upholding the rule amounted to a judicial "seal of approval" in favor of discrimination.
October 18, 2023
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday refused to entertain a lawsuit challenging a Nasdaq Stock Market rule requiring corporations that list on the exchange to disclose board diversity data, ruling that the exchange is a private entity not subject to constitutional scrutiny.