Anna Pinedo, partner and co-head capital markets practice at Mayer Brown LLP, participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITwise: 2023 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference held March 21-23 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Pinedo noted that many clients are dealing with shareholder proposals that bring ESG issues to the forefront. “We’re seeing an increasing number of shareholder proposals generally this proxy season, so I think that it’s going to be a difficult issue for REITs and companies generally,” she said.
As for the most consequential regulatory change for REITs in 2023, Pinedo responded, “we’re all bracing ourselves for the [SEC] climate disclosure rules.” She noted that regardless of whether Scope 3 disclosures are on or off the table, “it will still be a lot of work for the SEC reporting teams and financial reporting teams, both in-house at REITs as well as for outside counsel.”
Pinedo also commented on how REITs are performing when it comes to corporate governance matters.