- The SEC said yesterday it was dropping its probe into whether Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) misled investors about how risks from climate change and greenhouse gas regulations might affect the business.
- The SEC's investigation began in 2016 under former chairman Mary Jo White, who was picked by former Pres. Obama, and ends under SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, appointed by Pres. Trump.
- Under U.S. law, public companies must tell shareholders about risks that matter to investment decisions, and environmental groups and some activist investors have pushed the SEC to force companies to disclose more about how they weigh their exposure to climate change.
- The SEC also was probing how XOM valued its oil and gas assets; in 2016, XOM was the only major oil and gas company that had not written down the value of its reserves in the prior decade, but it has since booked more than $3B of impairments.
- New York's Attorney General says the state's own investigation into XOM's disclosure practices remains ongoing.
- Now read: Give Exxon Mobil The Benefit Of The Doubt
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