SEC to Review Existing Accounting Related to ESG Factors

SEC staff are scrutinizing how public companies account for climate-related risks and impacts to their business based on existing accounting rules, an SEC official said Wednesday.

Current accounting standards for asset retirement, environmental obligations and loss contingencies are examples that staff with the Division of Corporation Finance would consider as they review filings, said Lindsay McCord, the division’s chief accountant, in remarks to the Baruch College spring financial reporting conference.

• The Securities and Exchange Commission said earlier this year that it would dust off 2010 climate disclosure guidance and check to see how companies are meeting those expectations as ...