In November 2020, the UK government published “Roadmap” setting out its aims for mandatory climate-related disclosures across the UK economy, in a manner aligned with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related...more
In this episode, which concludes our three-part EU ESG Considerations for Beginners miniseries, Akin Gump financial regulatory partner Ezra Zahabi looks at EU ESG developments and risks and what business should know about...more
7/15/2021
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investors ,
Risk Mitigation ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy
The proposed disclosure rules applicable to UK investment managers have been published for comment by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The rules focus on enhancing transparency on climate-related risks and align...more
In this episode, the second in our three-part EU ESG Considerations for Beginners miniseries, Akin Gump financial regulatory partner Ezra Zahabi looks at the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation and what it means for business.
Among...more
7/1/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investors ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy
1. Overview The new rules on the promotion of funds introduced by the new Cross-Border Distribution of Collective Investment Undertakings Directive and Regulation (Cross-Border Distribution of Funds (CBDF) Rules) are due to...more
6/29/2021
/ AIFM ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Cross-Border ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Marketing ,
Member State ,
National Private Placement Regimes (NPPR)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued consultation papers introducing new mandatory climate-linked disclosure requirements. The proposals are consistent with the “roadmap” published by the UK Government, which set...more
This special episode features “Emergence of ESG Transparency,” a webinar featuring two heads of Akin Gump’s ESG group—partners Stacey Mitchell in D.C. and Amy Kennedy in London—along with London partner Ezra Zahabi.
Among...more
The United Kingdom and the European Union have concluded technical discussions on the text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) referred to in the Joint Declaration on Financial Services Regulatory Cooperation agreed...more
TCFD Mandatory Disclosures -
The UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published a Consultation on requiring mandatory climate-related financial disclosures by large publicly quoted companies,...more
The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have published the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (“Taxonomy RTS”) on product-level disclosures that apply to funds or portfolios that promote or make environmentally...more
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced that the temporary lower net short position reporting threshold of 0.1 percent under the EU Short Selling Regulation (SSR) with respect to shares traded on an...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have published a Consultation Paper1 with proposed changes to the secondary rules regarding margin requirements applicable to non-centrally...more
The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have published a Supervisory Statement to clarify the application of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) in anticipation of the requirements applying in the...more
The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have published the final draft of the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which set out the detailed disclosure...more
On 27 January 2021, the European Commission adopted an equivalence decision determining that the legal and supervisory arrangements applicable to US central counterparties (CCPs) registered with the Securities and Exchange...more
Key Points The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is able to make requests of U.K. firms (including U.K. branches of non-U.K. firms) to provide books and records and other documents of SEC regulated...more
1/26/2021
/ Books & Records ,
Document Requests ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ,
IOSCO ,
Personal Data ,
Public Interest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
UK Brexit ,
UK GDPR
European financial supervisory authorities have requested the European Commission to clarify key areas of ambiguity regarding the scope and application of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), including its...more
1/18/2021
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Popular ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability
On 24 December 2020, the government of the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) reached a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the “Agreement”) in advance of the end of the Brexit transition period (11:00 p.m. GMT on...more
1/6/2021
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
UCITS ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
Whether preparing or reviewing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures for compliance with regulatory requirements in the EU, the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States (US), or for alignment with ESG best...more
12/30/2020
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
In response to the unprecedented circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU and the UK temporarily lowered the reporting threshold under the EU Short Selling Regulation (“EU SSR”) for net short positions in shares...more
1. New EU and UK disclosure requirements -
The new disclosure requirements for investment managers and advisers with respect to their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policies will apply in the European...more
11/25/2020
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Green Finance ,
Investment Management ,
MiFID II ,
Popular ,
SFDR ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
UCITS ,
UK
On 27 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched a public consultation on its draft guidelines to assess leverage risks in the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) sector. In particular, ESMA is...more
On 30 June 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced proposals designed to provide breathing room to solo-regulated firms (meaning those governed solely by the FCA) in respect of the implementation of certain...more
On 5 June 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidelines on certain aspects of the recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) compliance function requirements (the...more
On 3 June 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published two Opinions clarifying how European Union investment firms trading financial instruments on third-country trading venues (TCTVs) should, from 3...more