Environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, and diverging opinions on approach, continued to dominate headlines across the globe in the first half of 2024. Companies and their stakeholders started the year navigating...more
7/29/2024
/ Activist ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Greenwashing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
UK
On this episode of “The Preferred Return,” co-hosts Greg Norman and Abigail Reeves look at the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, particularly updates to the EU legislation, which are the most significant to...more
Hosts Greg Norman and Abigail Reeves present another episode of “The Preferred Return” podcast, this time focusing on considerations for first time funds, including setting up a fund manager, building a team, determining fund...more
In March 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released two documents with its updated supervisory approach for the asset management and alternatives sector: the FCA’s 2024/25 Business Plan (the Business Plan), and a...more
In July 2023, the UK government published its findings from the Investment Research Review (Review) as part of the UK government’s Edinburgh Reforms. The Review made a number of recommendations to encourage research...more
Activist shareholders had a busy 2023: The incidence of activist campaigns in Europe soared by almost 70% compared to 2022, according to data compiled by Skadden and Activistmonitor. As we described in a previous issue of The...more
2/16/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Capital Markets ,
Disclosure ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Listing Rules ,
New Rules ,
Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFCs) ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholders ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Stock Exchange ,
UK
On 28 November 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unveiled its Policy Statement PS 23/16 (Policy Statement), which sets out the final rules for sustainability disclosure and investment labels (SDR Rules). The...more
1/8/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
On 24 November 2023, the industry-led Technology Working Group of HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce (Group) released an interim report (Report) outlining a strategic blueprint for the implementation of fund...more
12/5/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Innovative Technology ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology ,
Tokenization ,
UK
The United Kingdom has long been a target destination for activist investors. It is the venue for nearly half of all of recent activist campaigns in Europe. In previous articles, we have discussed how informed boards should...more
11/15/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Activist Investors ,
Asset Valuations ,
Capital Gains ,
Debt Securities ,
Equity Markets ,
Foreign Governments ,
Government Bonds ,
HMRC ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment Trust Companies ,
Mergers ,
NAV ,
Railroads ,
REIT ,
UK ,
Venture Capital
In a speech at the Investment Association’s Annual Dinner on 11 October 2023, Ashley Alder, chair of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), expanded upon the FCA’s discussion paper, “Updating and Improving the UK Regime...more
The European Commission recently launched two consultations — a public consultation and a targeted consultation (collectively, the Consultations) — seeking stakeholders’ feedback on potential changes to the Sustainable...more
10/18/2023
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
UK
As predicted in our February 1, 2023, client alert, “ESG in 2022 and Predictions for 2023,” a global economic slowdown and ongoing backlash in the U.S. have slowed the momentum of some aspects of the environmental, social and...more
7/18/2023
/ Activist Investors ,
Biodiversity ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Reporting ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Green Energy ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Remuneration ,
Sustainability ,
UK
On 20 February 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released a discussion paper titled “Updating and Improving the UK Regime for Asset Management” (Discussion Paper), seeking industry feedback on potential changes...more
The consultation period for the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) proposed rules for labelling ‘sustainable’ financial products formed or marketed in the UK ended 25 January 2023, and final rules are expected to be...more
On 1 February 2023, the U.K. Treasury launched a consultation and call for evidence on a series of proposals for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets. The proposals mark the next stage of the...more
Following another year of increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations by companies, investors and regulators alike, ESG appears to have cemented its position in the corporate landscape...more
2/2/2023
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Energy ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues continue to be a very significant topic for the private capital industry, whether through increasing demands from investors and other stakeholders or the continued stream of...more
The rapidly growing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters that marked 2020 continued to shape events for companies operating or based in the U.K. and Europe in 2021. Discussions of ESG are occurring at...more
9/3/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Green Bonds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
The focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues grew considerably in 2020, in part due to significant regulatory developments.
Takeaways
- Financial services businesses and other UK companies will still...more
3/5/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
UK Brexit
The negotiations that culminated in the establishment of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) at the end of 2020 concluded with no meaningful agreement in relation to the provision of financial services between the...more
In a tumultuous year, one of the key clear messages to emerge from 2020 was that environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are here to stay. As mentioned in our 31 July 2020 article “ESG in 2020: A Half-Year...more
2/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Debt Market ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
Green Bonds ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Remuneration ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability
Governance Factor; Beyond the Board -
Corporate governance has long been a focal point for large corporates, listed companies and regulated entities, with numerous studies connecting good corporate governance with higher...more
The U.K. Treasury and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) have taken steps to restrict the sale of cryptoassets and ban the sale of derivatives referencing cryptoassets (crypto-derivatives) to U.K. retail...more
The list of events for which 2020 will be remembered continues to grow and we are only two thirds of the way through the year. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have come into focus in the financial community,...more
9/15/2020
/ AIFM ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fund Managers ,
Fund Sponsors ,
Institutional Investors ,
Pollution Control ,
Popular ,
Private Funds ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy ,
UK ,
United Nations