By Ross Kerber

Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. CEOs have battled socially minded shareholder activists for years on all kinds of subjects including efforts to split up Jamie Dimon's leadership roles at JPMorgan JPM.N in the early 2010s and the big boardroom shakeup at Exxon XOM.N in 2021.

Those epic battles turned on the votes of investors large and small as corporate leaders campaigned hard to win shareholder backing. But new guidance issued by the top U.S. securities regulator may have overturned that system, according to financial experts and attorneys I spoke with for this week's main story. You can read their take via the link below and by the way, not everyone thinks the steps are all good news for directors.

This week I have also flagged stories about federal workers who took a buyout offered by President Donald Trump's administration, and about how HSBC pushed back its net-zero target.

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Trump's SEC leader shifts power from investors to boardrooms

New policies from the top U.S. securities regulator hand corporate boards more power over investors in ways that could curtail reform efforts on everything from climate policy to director contests.

Since last month when Trump named Mark Uyeda acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency has made it easier for boards to block shareholder resolutions, put stricter filing requirements on passive funds, and limited investors' communication abilities.

The changes sparked concerns, and not just from ESG-minded shareholder activists. Jessica Strine, CEO of shareholder advisory firm Jasper Street Partners, said the SEC's new interpretations could have a potential downside for companies as well if they cannot know what their top investors think.

"It's not a complete gift to management teams if it means they no longer have engagement opportunities with their top shareholders," she said. "That means they don't get to make their case" before votes are cast at annual meetings on matters like executive compensation.

Click here to read my full write-up.

Company news

Citing slow change in the economy HSBC HSBA.L pushed back its net-zero target by 20 years, to 2050, adding to fears from campaigners that the world's top lenders are rowing back their climate pledges.

Financial firms hated the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But its rapid undoing by the Trump administration is causing upheaval among those it regulates, according to our story you can read here.

Bumble BMBL.O shares were lower on Wednesday after the dating app operator forecast below-expected revenue, as it grapples with a slowdown in the growth of paying users.

On my radar

Every one of the 75,000 federal workers who accepted a resignation buyout has a different story. My colleagues interviewed five of them including a worker trying to get ahead of a layoff, one who planned to retire anyway, and a single mother trying to balance a work-in-person mandate with a daycare dropoff.

A Washington-based U.S. District Court judge declined to immediately block Elon Musk's government efficiency department from directing firings of federal workers or accessing databases, but said the case raises questions about Musk's apparent unchecked authority.

A federal judge in Texas upheld a Biden-era rule allowing socially conscious investing by employee retirement plans. The judge rejected arguments by 26 Republican-led states, an energy trade group and Liberty Energy LBRT.N that the rule was inconsistent with federal law.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)

((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))