By Isla Binnie, Virginia Furness and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -The acting chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday signaled the regulator may roll back a controversial rule requiring thousands of public companies to disclose the threats their businesses face from risks related to the climate and environment.

The acting chair, Mark Uyeda, is directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to pause its legal defense of a rule requiring companies to make climate disclosures.

Securities and Exchange Commission acting Chair Mark Uyeda does not support the agency’s public company climate disclosure rule and has asked staff to notify the federal court assigned to hear a consolidated legal challenge against the rule to delay scheduling the case for arguments.

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The acting chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking a federal court to pause litigation against its climate disclosure rule, saying the agency does not have authority to enforce the regulation and that changes in federal administration render the rule effectively moot.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Tuesday that it will not defend a year-old rule requiring publicly-held companies to disclose climate-related risks and in some cases the details of their emissions.