Good morning. A backlash against companies taking on issues ranging from climate change to abortion rights is helping to push shareholder proposals to record numbers this year, Risk & Compliance Journal's Richard Vanderford reports.

• What's happening: More advocacy groups are using these resolutions to try to inject their voices into the corporate agenda, questioning companies’ adoption of policies that some view as being overly political. Companies are facing proposals from both sides of the political spectrum, dragging them into the increasingly fractious conversations over environmental, social and governance issues.
   
• Directors' response: Many boards try to avoid alienating customers and shareholders and thus tend not to take sides, advising that every proposal be voted down. In some cases, they negotiate with shareholders to withdraw proposals before a vote happens. But studying these proposals eats up board time and exposes the companies to potentially unwelcome media attention.
   
• Bottom line: The political climate around ESG issues means proposals on the topic will be a recurring theme. “These proposals are not going away,” said Michael Littenberg, a partner at law firm Ropes & Gray who advises companies on ESG issues. “I can guarantee you that next year we will have another record number.”

TikTok sues Montana over state’s ban of its service.

TikTok is suing Montana over the state’s new ban of the social-media platform, challenging the law’s constitutionality.

The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Montana, alleges the ban violates the First Amendment and several other laws. The case was brought against the state’s attorney general, who is tasked with enforcing the ban.

The ban is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. It is unclear how it will be enforced.

Delaware judge targets secret funding of lawsuits.

A federal judge in Delaware is on a campaign to eliminate hidden funding of intellectual-property lawsuits against companies, a crackdown that is roiling the patent-law industry.

U.S. Chief District Judge Colm Connolly in Wilmington, whose court is one of the busiest venues for patent litigation, issued an order a year ago requiring litigants in his court to disclose details of any financial arrangements in which third parties are funding their lawsuits.

Lawyers defending companies against infringement claims have cheered him on, crediting the judge with exposing tactics that have shielded filers of frivolous lawsuits from scrutiny and liability. Attorneys representing plaintiffs in the judge’s crosshairs have accused Connolly of unjustly prying into their clients’ finances and privileged communications.

China’s new chip ban on Micron puts South Korea in a delicate spot.

A new Chinese clampdown on American chip giant Micron Technology has put South Korea in an uncomfortable position.

Amid a series of tit-for-tat trade moves between Beijing and Washington, China, citing national-security risks, banned certain local firms in key information-infrastructure industries from buying memory chips from Micron. The clampdown affects parts of Micron’s roughly $3 billion in annual sales from China.

• China Offers Tough Reply to Biden’s Suggestion of Thaw With U.S.
• Why It’s Getting Harder to Do Business in China

• This year’s annual bitcoin conference was for the die-hards. At the entrance, a sign proclaimed, “No bears allowed.”

Security chiefs trim the fat as budgets bite.

Security chiefs are looking for ways to cut costs and run operations more efficiently as broader economic difficulties cut into budgets and resources.

High-profile hacks, new regulations focused on digital defenses and a greater understanding of the damage that attacks can cause have elevated cybersecurity to a core business risk. As a result, chief information security officers and chief information officers have spent big on cyber tools and services.

That is starting to change.

• Your Data Just Leaked. Here’s What Happens Next

• The U.S. government’s attempt to refill the skyscraper-sized caverns that hold the country’s emergency oil reserves is coming with a crash course in energy markets: How to think more like a trader.
   
• Share prices for some of the largest office landlords have dropped to near historic lows, reflecting a sluggish return-to-office rate and a rise in the number of investors betting that these stocks will keep falling.
   
• House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden failed to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling following a high-stakes meeting at the White House but planned to press ahead with talks, as the U.S. nears a deadline to prevent a first-ever default.
   
• The U.S. states that use Colorado River water have agreed to cuts requested by the federal government to help keep two of the main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, from falling to critically low levels.
   
• Income from Disney's TV networks has dropped faster than expected as the world’s largest entertainment company struggles to boost its share price and get its streaming-video business to profitability.

Follow us on Twitter at @WSJRisk. Follow Risk & Compliance editor David Smagalla @DSmagalla_DJ and reporters Mengqi Sun @_MengqiSun, Dylan Tokar @dgtokar and Richard Vanderford @VanderfordRich.

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