When it rains mergers and acquisitions news, it pours.

In a buzzer beater just before the holidays, we got two updates that offer a clarifying glimpse into the 2024 M&A landscape.

First up: The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice finalized updates to their joint merger guidelines, marking the end of an almost two-year process to refine descriptions of the two agencies’ enforcement practices for mergers and acquisitions.

“Fair, open, competitive markets have been essential to America’s dynamic, thriving economy, and policing unlawful mergers is our front line of defense against harmful corporate consolidation,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.

The updated guidelines, which include stipulations about market concentration and cutting off entrants to crowded markets, have an added consequence as the 2024 M&A pipeline gets set to kick off.

For more on M&A in 2024, click here.—NP

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It was an eventful year in ESG. In 2023, major regulations were passed or enacted, natural disasters called the public’s attention to climate change, and, in the US, the concept of ESG faced a backlash from state lawmakers.

And 2024 could shape up to be the year that companies prepare to report under new regulations, Maura Hodge, ESG audit leader at KPMG US, told CFO Brew. Reporting will become increasingly sophisticated and synchronized, she predicted. Here’s what she sees coming in the ESG space in the year to come:

Intense focus on new regulations: Companies have a whole slew of new regulations to contend with, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), IFRS 1 and 2, and the California climate disclosure laws. The SEC’s anticipated climate disclosure rule is now expected to come in early 2024, Hodge said.

Companies may also need to assess the need for assurance around the new regulations. “The data that is to be assured has expanded drastically” under the new standards, Hodge said, “and there’s just a lot more work to be done on the company side to be prepared.”

Continue reading about the state of ESG in 2024 here.—CV

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: 3%.That’s how much Apple’s shares fell by yesterday after Barclay’s downgraded the stock over sluggish iPhone 15 sales. (CNN Business)

Quote: “The market is basically saying ‘we will wait and see until something happens’…but it’s really getting much more serious every day.”—Helima Croft, managing director and global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, on attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi forces. Shipping giant Maersk announced that it is ceasing Red Sea operations indefinitely. (CNBC)

Read: What CFOs are saying about their 2024 priorities. (the Wall Street Journal)

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