On 24 July 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") published an opinion on the sustainable finance regulatory framework (the "ESMA Opinion"), which outlines the ESMA's long-term vision for the functioning...more
On 18 June 2024, the European Supervisory Authorities (the “ESAs”) published a joint opinion (the “Opinion”) on their recommendations for the next iteration of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”)....more
On 14 May 2024 ESMA published its long-awaited guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms (the Guidelines). The Guidelines apply three months after the date of their publication on ESMA’s website...more
ESMA has, on 14 December 2023, published a public statement updating its Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms. This follows the consultation paper on the same topic that ran until 20 February...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 European Commission has published two consultation papers that seek views on the fundamental features and effectiveness of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The purpose of both the targeted and the...more
Over the last few months, the European Commission and the European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”) have published a number of press releases and reports that aim to clarify and provide further updates on concepts used within...more
On 12 April 2023 – less than four months after the RTS under SFDR came into effect and four weeks after a further amended version of the RTS went live, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published a consultation...more
The European Commission ("Commission") is relentless in its fight against Greenwashing and the misrepresentation of sustainability impacts or benefits of a company’s products or actions. Following the global ESG trend and the...more
Go to any private equity event in the last 12 months, and “energy transition” will have been discussed, meaning the shift in energy production away from fossil‑based systems to low or zero carbon ones. As fund managers...more
On 2 March 2023, the Central Bank of Ireland (the “Central Bank”) published its third annual Securities Markets Risk Outlook Report (the “Report”). The Report highlights the conduct risks that the Central Bank has identified...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
After some delay, the United Kingdom’s financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) has published Consultation Paper CP 22/20 (Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels)...more
There have been numerous positive developments in the evolution of ESG investing. Still, the research needed to assess which investments are truly ESG-compliant and which are tantamount to greenwashing is burdensome...more
The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published a corrigendum from the European Commission to a set of answers on the application of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (EU/2019/2088) (“SFDR”)....more
Yesterday, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a discussion paper (DP21/4) (the “Discussion Paper”) seeking initial views on new sustainability disclosure requirements for asset managers and FCA-regulated...more
The financial services sector plays a vital role in the fight against climate change. It has long been recognised that regular and accurate disclosure of information on climate-related risks and opportunities can help...more
ESG geht auch an der Vertriebsregulierung nach MiFID II (Richtlinie 2014/65/EU) nicht spurlos vorbei: Die delegierten Rechtsakte zur MiFID II (Delegierte VO (EU) 2017/565 und Delegierte Richtlinie (EU) 2017/593) werden um...more
Spätestens seit die Verordnung (EU) 2019/2088 („Offenlegungsverordnung“ oder „SFDR“) am 10. März 2021 in ihren ersten Teilen in Kraft getreten ist, sind sogenannte „Artikel 8-Fonds“ und „Artikel 9-Fonds“ in aller Munde. Die...more
Following increased public attention to the global sustainability agenda, investors, public institutions, and companies around the world are increasingly prioritizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures as...more
Three recent developments in relation to ESG related disclosures are of note: (1) on March 10th, the US Department of Labor announced it would not enforce its own rules related to ESG investing, (2) on the same day the EU’s...more
On 4 February 2021, less than six weeks before the 10 March 2021 date on which the main operative provisions of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) start to apply, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs)...more
In light of the looming 10 March 2021 deadlines for both the SFDR (the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (EU) 2019/2088) and the AMF Position/Recommendation DOC-2020-03 (the “AMF Doctrine”),1 the AMF published a press...more
Insurance Europe supports the efforts of the European co-legislators towards a more sustainable economy and is in favour of increased transparency in sustainable investments and sustainability risks, provided that the...more