A federal appeals court on Friday said it was pausing its consideration of legal challenges against the U.S. S
ecurities and Exchange Commission’s climate regulations until the Wall Street regulator decides whether it plans either to
change them or to defend them in court, court papers showed.
Under former President Joe Biden, the SEC adopted rules requiri
ng publicly traded companies to tell investors about climate-related risks, emissions and spending, with Republican-led states and one industry group immediately
challenging this in court. Under Republican President Donald Trump, the SEC voted in March to cease defending the rule.
In an order on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit sa
id that, because the SEC had refused either to defend the rule in court or say whether it planned to modify or scrap the rule
entirely, the legal challenges “will be held in abeyance to promote judicial economy.”
“It is the agency’s responsibility to determine whether its Final Rules will be rescinded, repealed, modified or de
fended in litigation,” the order said, noting that the SEC had already stayed the regulations’ effecti
ve date during the legal challenge, meaning a delayed court decision would not cause harm.
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Representatives for the SEC did not immediately respond to a reque
y that it did not intend to reconsider the rule, calling on the court instead to proceed with the case regardless.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)She noted that the results are built on the fundamentals of sustainable pr
ofit with consistent earnings from underwriting supported by investment income as well as a stable underlying combin
ed ratio, a consistent return on capital and a very strong balance sheet, both in individual syndicates and centrally at the Corporation of Lloyd’s.
“Gross written premiums of £32.5 billion [$43.6 billion] is on trend, growing at 6.2%,” Tiernan said.
“Pricing softened by 3.5% on a risk-adjusted basis, giving us an underlying combined ratio of 82.1%, which is consistent with prior half-year results, but it wil
l need to improve by year’s end, if volatility continues to tick up,” h
e continued. The market’s underlying combined ratio rose 1.5% from 80.6% in H1 2024. (The underlying combined ratio is the combined ratio excluding major claims.)
“However, at a market level, it is key that the underlying combined ratio remains at or below 80 to withstand volatility in major losses,” Cliff emphasized.
Tiernan said major losses are back in line with long-term trends – adding 10.4% to the reported combined ratio of 9
.5%, which he said is solid in comparison to the market’s peers.
The investment return of £3.2 billion ($4.3 billion), or 3.1% (H1 2024: £2.1 billion, or 2.1%) “reflects conservative positioning, resulting in a creditable £4.2 billion profit for the first half of the year,” he said.