The regulators have said they will not pursue their proposals on announcing enforcement investigations and on D&I. On 12 March 2025, the FCA and PRA made important announcements regarding the long-awaited outcomes on certain...more
A review of fund and portfolio managers found a number of good practices, but also revealed the need for improvement in areas such as conflict management.
On 5 March 2025, the FCA published the findings from its review...more
3/7/2025
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Management ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Private Equity ,
Private Funds ,
Risk Management ,
Valuation
The Commission’s proposal seeks to reshape EU Sustainability requirements by amending CSRD, CSDDD, EU Taxonomy, and CBAM.
On 26 February 2025, the European Commission (Commission) published its much-anticipated first...more
3/4/2025
/ Amended Regulation ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Corporate Governance ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Taxonomy
Speech focuses on the regulatory change agenda, and confirms that firms are no longer expected to have a Consumer Duty board champion.
On 27 February 2025, the FCA published a speech given by Nikhil Rathi, in which he...more
In this episode of our Connected With Latham podcast series, the final of three episodes complementing Latham’s “10 Key Focus Areas for UK-Regulated Financial Services Firms in 2025” report, London partners Rob Moulton and...more
The guidelines set out requirements for institutions regarding the identification, measurement, management, and monitoring of ESG risks....more
1/14/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Capital Requirements ,
Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRDIV) ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Finance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainable Finance
The consultation covers new methodologies for the financial sector’s GHG emissions reporting, including regarding avoided emissions, or “scope 4” emissions.
On 3 December 2024, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting...more
12/24/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Governance ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
IFRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
The regime will have broad reach, although its implementation will likely take several years.
On 14 November 2024, HM Treasury laid out the future UK regulatory regime for environmental, social, and governance (ESG)...more
The regulator is providing temporary flexibility in light of concerns that asset managers need extra time to prepare.
On 9 September 2024, the FCA published a statement on its naming and marketing rules under the...more
9/11/2024
/ Asset Management ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Deadlines ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Marketing ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
The ESAs urge the European Commission to consider a labelling rather than a disclosure regime to help consumers understand the sustainability goals of financial products....more
6/27/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Labeling ,
Marketing ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
Guidelines indicate when asset managers may legitimately use ESG or sustainability-related terms in their fund names.
On 14 May 2024, ESMA published its final Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG- or...more
5/24/2024
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Final Guidance ,
Investment Funds ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
The final guidance clarifies the scope and application date of the rule, and answers questions around good practice and accessing third-party data.
On 23 April 2024, the FCA published its final guidance (FG23/4) on its...more
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have made some significant changes to the European Commission’s proposal.
Key Points:
..The agreed text includes important clarifications on the scope of the regime and...more
Political Agreement Reached on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Rules -
On 14 December 2023, the European Council (Council) and European Parliament (Parliament) reached a political agreement on the Corporate...more
The FCA and the PRA have published their long-awaited consultations which aim to formalise how firms approach diversity and inclusion.
On 25 September 2023, the FCA and the PRA published separate but related consultation...more
10/2/2023
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
UK ,
Willful Misconduct
An evolving landscape of reforms in the ESG ratings sector continues to pose challenges to providers of ratings and scores.
International momentum to regulate ESG ratings continues as the European Commission released a...more
6/16/2023
/ Consultation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Collection ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Global Market ,
HM Treasury ,
India ,
IOSCO ,
Japan ,
Ratings ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda
The regulator is concerned that ESG-related disclosures are not meeting expectations.
The FCA has published a Dear CEO letter sent to benchmark administrators on 20 March 2023, expressing concerns about the quality of...more
Latham lawyers highlight key takeaways and developments in the sustainability space from the second half of the year.
...more
12/22/2022
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Forced Labor ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment Funds ,
Sustainability
The FCA’s latest report into D&I highlights the need for additional metrics, social mobility, firm culture, staff development, data quality, and systematic strategies.
In 2021 and 2022, the FCA carried out a survey of...more
The guiding principles are similar to related proposals from other banking regulators, but will require further clarification through the comment process.
On December 2, 2022, the Board of Governors of the Federal...more
12/12/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Governance ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Banks ,
Governance Standards ,
Large Financial Institutions (LFIs) ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Risk Management ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Strategic Planning ,
Supervision
The FCA hopes the proposals will protect consumer trust in ESG-related financial products and help consumers navigate the increasingly complex ESG-related financial market.
On 25 October 2022, the UK’s Financial Conduct...more
EU Parliament and Council reach agreement on CSRD -
European Parliament and European Council | 21 June 2022 -
The European Parliament and European Council reached a provisional political agreement on the terms of the...more
8/18/2022
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Corporate Governance ,
Due Diligence ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
European Commission ,
European Parliament ,
Exemptions ,
Natural Gas ,
Nuclear Power ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The two new bodies are expected to help harmonise standards in different jurisdictions to meet investor demand for comparable ESG information.
On 27 April 2022, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)...more
The new rules provide issuers with flexibility to report on representation of women by reference to either gender identity or sex.
On 20 April 2022, the FCA published its final policy decision on the proposals set out in...more
Proposed changes seek to reflect the integration of sustainability considerations into MiFID II.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is consulting on updates to its Guidelines on the MiFID II suitability...more