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3 Stories to Start Your Week: September 13, 2021

The SEC & ESG Reporting

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is cracking down on Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, asking corporations to provide specifics regarding their ESG standards.

Wall Street currently boasts a substantial $35 trillion in “sustainable assets.” The SEC is looking to verify this number by requesting that each corporation outlines, in extreme detail, the screening processes used to qualify an asset as an ESG investment.

With ESG becoming a major buzzword in the investment world—it’s important for businesses to make clear the blurry lines of their ESG reporting to stay on top of the game.

Biden Casts A Wide Social Safety Net

Last Thursday, President Biden’s push for a progressive economic agenda took its next big step.

Biden’s young, but busy administration has already unleashed a slew of federal financial benefits packages for low-to-mid income households, including reforms to the Child Tax Credit, among several others. Biden has also canceled student loan debt within some select demographics and is rumored to grant total loan forgiveness for all borrowers at some point during his presidency.

Now, Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill approving paid family leave of up to 12 weeks for American parents in the workforce. This, among other new provisions, will likely be merged into a singular large-scale bill—estimated to total around $3.5 trillion in social spending—that the House will vote on in the coming weeks

Today, House Democrats unveiled the proposed tax increases that will fund Biden’s social safety net including a potential corporate tax rate hike of 26.5%.

Is Our Labor Economy On The Mend?

Unemployment filings are dwindling as America’s job economy appears to be back on the rise.

Last week, unemployment benefit filings fell to 310,000 — a pandemic-era all-time low. Jobless claims have been on a steady decline since mid-July when it was announced that federal enhanced unemployment benefits would be fully revoked by September 6, 2021.

This diminishing rate is a hopeful sign that our country’s labor market is making its way out of the depths of the pandemic-induced recession. Fewer jobless claims are healthy signs that employers are remaining confident in hiring sprees, despite the lingering fear that the COVID-19 Delta variant will spiral our economy back into recession again.

Thoughts? Give us a call at 516-541-6549, visit our website for more news updates, and don’t forget—have a great week!

 
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