US ESG: orange vs green follows red vs blue

One of the biggest areas of conflict in US politics over the next four years — and indeed, over the past four — will be over environmental, social and governance matters. Donal Trump’s administration will likely be no fan of what its supporters sometimes call “woke capitalism”.

But whether this spells disaster for environment and for ESG capital markets remains to be seen. Although the Republicans have a firm grip on the federal government, a deep dive into ESG in the US reveals that they are unlikely to be able to have everything their own way.

Meanwhile, a ruling that may entitle UK car buyers to billions of pounds worth of compensation from the banks and other firms that financed their wheels could have negative consequences for the auto ABS market. We take the scenic route in examining the situation.