Tag: Gizmodo

Restoring Financial Regulators’ Right to Fight Climate Change

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://earther.gizmodo.com/restoring-financial-regulators-right-to-fight-climate-c-1846476253

Excerpt:

Already, over the past few weeks, Biden’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it will update its guidelines on how climate risks should be disclosed to investors, and launched a task force to focus on climate-related compliance and misconduct. The SEC has also refused to help ExxonMobil block a shareholder vote on a climate-change resolution. (Although the commission did just let the company reject a shareholder proposal to force the operation to disclose what it plans to do with its untapped fossil fuel assets.)

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission sided with ExxonMobil in rejecting a shareholder proposal to require the company to report how it plans to deal with “stranded assets” — untapped fossil fuels that the company is counting as assets but may never be drilled, meaning they will turn into liabilities.

Author(s): Dharna Noor, Walker Bragman

Publication Date: 15 March 2021

Publication Site: Gizmodo

Your Credit Score Should Be Based on Your Web History, IMF Says

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://gizmodo.com/your-credit-score-should-be-based-on-your-web-history-1845912592

Excerpt:

In a new blog post for the International Monetary Fund, four researchers presented their findings from a working paper that examines the current relationship between finance and tech as well as its potential future. Gazing into their crystal ball, the researchers see the possibility of using the data from your browsing, search, and purchase history to create a more accurate mechanism for determining the credit rating of an individual or business. They believe that this approach could result in greater lending to borrowers who would potentially be denied by traditional financial institutions.

At its heart, the paper is trying to wrestle with the dawning notion that the institutional banking system is facing a serious threat from tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple. The researchers identify two key areas in which this is true: Tech companies have greater access to soft-information, and messaging platforms can take the place of the physical locations that banks rely on for meeting with customers.

Author(s): Rhett Jones

Publication Date: 18 December 2020

Publication Site: Gizmodo