Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation....more
EU competent authorities seem to be stepping up enforcement actions for SFDR disclosure acting as a timely reminder for fund managers to ensure that holdings and procedures for allocating investments align with statements in...more
On 19 November 2024, the Council of the European Union formally adopted the new ESG Ratings Regulation (the “Regulation”), following a proposal from the European Commission on 13 June 2023 and an agreement with the European...more
Welcome to the third edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect...more
An accelerating focus on doing business responsibly will force changes to wide-ranging aspects of business operations and strategy - Societal expectations of businesses have shifted fundamentally over the past five years....more
On 7 August 2024, the European Commission published draft FAQs on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) clarifying the interpretation of certain provisions within the CSRD, the European Sustainability...more
Key topics in Akin’s July 2024 Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update include: Updated Assessment of SFDR by EU Regulators: The European Supervisory Authorities have proposed changes to the Sustainable Finance...more
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
On 14 May 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidelines ESMA34-472-440 Final Report on the Guidelines on funds names (europa.eu) on the use of ESG- or sustainability-related terms...more
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
The Targeted Consultation Document on the Implementation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (“SFDR Consultation”) published on 14 September 2023 engendered an industry and media storm, with commentators...more
The AIFMD contains numerous ongoing obligations that apply to sponsors and funds long after fundraising has completed. As part of our AIFMD refresher series, this article summarises one of the key AIFMD ongoing requirements...more
The Commission has launched a far reaching consultation and review of SFDR, long expected by the industry. This bulletin provides an overview, as well as giving thought as to what we might see in terms of SFDR 2.0....more
The main provisions of the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation have been in force since 2021, but compliance remains a challenge for many market participants. Here is an update on the state of play....more
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is a European regulation that has applied directly in the EU (and EEA countries) since March 2021. The aim of the SFDR is to provide harmonised disclosure requirements,...more
In this alert, we provide a round-up of the latest developments in ESG for UK corporates. In this month’s ESG Market Alert, we cover: Market Practice Update: Harnessing ESG opportunities in private equity EU Parliament...more
At Cooley, we’re increasingly speaking to clients in the US, Asia and elsewhere who are surprised by the intensity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) requests and covenants coming from their investors. Often these...more
The European Commission has rejected suggestions that it introduce minimum environmental standards for Article 8 or Article 9 funds under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). On April 14, 2023, the...more
On 14 April 2023, the European Commission published its responses1to the questions2raised by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) on a number of areas of uncertainty in the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation...more
When my private equity peers ask me how to handle ESG disclosures, my answer is typically, “don’t let the tail wag the dog.” What I mean, is it’s better to proactively report on what you know to be the most material and...more
In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been active in providing guidance and publishing new environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements. But the European community continues to...more
Financial services regulators globally are identifying sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues as key areas of concern, with the aim of encouraging greater investment in longer term and...more
In this alert, we provide a round-up of the latest developments in ESG for UK corporates. In this month’s ESG Market Alert, we cover: On 13 December 2022, EU member states reached a deal on the world’s first major carbon...more
As we round up 2022, December has remained lively in terms of ESG and sustainability-related disclosures developments in the UK, EU and internationally. This round-up provides a summary of the key updates over the past month...more
SFDR and Asset Allocators. The European Green Deal declared climate change and environmental degradation as existential threats to Europe and the world. The European Union (EU) has set out to mobilize private financial...more