Articles by author
UK SDR: setting the ESG blueprint for the world?
The new sustainability disclosure requirements and investment labels regime was introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to improve clarity and address the risks of greenwashing in the UK financial markets. The policy includes four sustainability labels (all of which have the same status – ie there is no hierarchy) and an anti-greenwashing rule applicable to FCA-regulated firms. Overall, the FCA have taken a very pragmatic approach (eg in areas like minimum portfolio composition and temporary breaches), which also avoids many of the issues posed by the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation regime by contrast (which was intended to be a disclosure regime but has become a de facto labelling regime). However, some uncertainty remains, notably around the practical adoption of the newly introduced labels as well as the application of the regime to overseas funds, which are not currently covered. Implementation of the regime by firms would require careful examination of the new rules in light of the principle and outcomes-based approach taken by the FCA. Helpfully, the rules have been written with interoperability and international convergence in mind – and the overall pragmatic and outcomes-based approach is likely to provide a useful ESG product labelling and disclosure regime for international regulators.
31 MAR 2024SFDR Commission Q&As: more Qs than As
On 26 July 2021, the European Commission published Q&As under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) with the aim of clarifying certain aspects of the regime. However, as we consider below, the Commission’s feedback in the Q&As has given rise to more questions than answers.
1 JAN 2022SFDR RTS and ESG sectoral amendments: mismatches and implementation challenges
On 6 April 2022, the European Commission adopted the final Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and its Annexes. The RTS was previously supposed to apply from July 2022 but will now instead apply from 1 January 2023.
1 JUN 2022
