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ARTICLE · 22 SEPTEMBER 2025

State AGs May Level Antitrust Enforcement Against ESG And AI

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
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State attorneys general are asserting themselves in areas once governed primarily by federal securities regulators. Unlike the familiar guardrails of the Investment Company Act of 1940...

United StatesAntitrust/Competition Law
Peter Saparoff
Peter Saparoff
Sofia Nuño
Sofia Nuño
Author LinkedIn connections

State attorneys general are asserting themselves in areas once governed primarily by federal securities regulators. Unlike the familiar guardrails of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and related federal securities laws, state-level initiatives are extending beyond what firms would reasonably anticipate under established compliance frameworks.

The result could be an evolving and unpredictable environment in which antitrust and consumer-protection theories are entering "securities compliance," and at least one court has let those claims through the gate.

ESG Test Case

One early testing ground has been environmental, social, and governance initiatives. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Aug. 1 denied a motion in Texas v. BlackRock to dismiss and allowed antitrust and consumer-protection claims to proceed against three major asset managers, holding that the Clayton Act's passive-investor safe harbor doesn't protect investors who use proxy

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