In his keynote address at the inaugural OECD Roundtable on Global Financial Markets in 2025, US SEC chairman Paul Atkins argued that regulation should require companies to provide investors only with information that is material to investment decisions. In his view, rules written for shareholders who seek to effect social change, rather than maximise financial returns, have little place in corporate regulation.
Yet, this shareholder-first conception of corporate regulation sits uneasily with the direction in which some governments are moving. They are taking a more active role in shaping how companies respond to wider social and environmental responsibilities. Some have encouraged firms to spend on CSR, while others have required companies to disclose their social and environmental impact. A handful have gone further. India, for instance, has made CSR spending a legal requirement for certain firms.
