The Council of the European Union ("EU") approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive ("CS3D") on March 15, 2024. The CS3D contains due diligence and governance obligations that will have an extensive impact...more
3/20/2024
/ Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Deal ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sustainability
In a watershed moment for green and sustainability-linked bonds, on November 30, 2023, the Regulation on European Green Bonds ("EuGB Regulation") was published in the Official Journal of the European Union ("EU")....more
The Situation: On October 5, 2023, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the European Green Bond Regulation ("EuGB Regulation"), establishing a voluntary harmonized standard open to both EU and...more
11/27/2023
/ EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Green Bonds ,
Green Finance ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
National Competent Authorities (NCA) ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy ,
UK
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) requires the most detailed and onerous ESG reporting and disclosures anywhere in the world. All told, it is estimated that more than 50,000 companies, including...more
9/21/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Parent Corporation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Sustainability ,
Water
In Short -
The Situation: Certain large companies incorporated in the European Union ("EU") are already required to disclose nonfinancial information under the current EU regulatory framework. Two upcoming EU...more
A JONES DAY TALKS® Encore Presentation.
From May 2021.
The European Central Bank's decision to establish a Climate Change Center and invest in a green bond fund launched by the Bank for International Settlements reflects the...more
After June 30, 2021, large asset managers will no longer have the option to "explain" noncompliance with Article 4 of EU Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector...more
The European Central Bank's decision to establish a Climate Change Center and invest in a green bond fund launched by the Bank for International Settlements reflects the growing importance of climate change, and ESG more...more
On June 25, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") delivered a judgment (C24/19) clarifying that orders and circulars of EU Member States that regulate the installation and operation of wind turbines...more
Takeaways from this discussion:
• Green bond issuance is surging worldwide, surpassing US$257 billion in 2019.
• Major corporates, including many not usually associated with climate initiatives, are bringing green...more
7/22/2020
/ Climate Change ,
Convertible Bonds ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Green Bonds ,
Green Finance ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Liability ,
Project Finance ,
Renewable Energy ,
Reporting Requirements
Climate Change Regulatory Issues & Updates -
NHTSA and EPA Finalize the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule -
The new rule completes the rollback of the Obama-era vehicle emissions standards....more
The Situation: The European Union ("EU") is on track to adopt the Taxonomy Regulation by the end of 2020, a key pillar of both the EU Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth and the European Green Deal.
The Result: The...more
The Situation: Three major pillars of the EU action plan on sustainable finance ("EU Action Plan") at varying stages of development have taken steps forward.
The Result: We now have a regulation on climate-related benchmarks...more
12/27/2019
/ Benchmarks ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Action Plans ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
European Commission ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy
On October 24, 2019, the European Supervisory Authorities ("ESAs"), consisting of the European Securities and Markets Authority, the European Banking Authority, and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority,...more
12/24/2019
/ Bond Markets ,
Comment Period ,
Consultation Papers ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Joint Statements ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Popular ,
Regulation Technical Standards (RTS) ,
Retail Investors
The Situation: The European Union continues to roll out its Action Plan for Financing Sustainable Growth with its latest proposal concerning climate-related disclosures and the European Commission's launch of a public...more
3/18/2019
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Public Interest Entities ,
Reporting Requirements
Energy-positive buildings are a hot topic in the next wave in Environmental, Social and Governance investing, in anticipation of the EU directive which will require that all new projects built are "nearly zero energy" as from...more
2/28/2019
/ Asset Management ,
BREEAM ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Construction Industry ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy Efficiency ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Buildings ,
LEED Certified ,
Member State ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability
Currently in the European Union, no level playing field exists for asset management and rating agency activities when it comes to ensuring sustainability. The European Securities and Market Authority ("ESMA") is proposing...more
Due to the increasing awareness of the importance of environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") initiatives, the European Commission came forward at the end of May 2018 with a proposal related to this topic. The proposal...more
11/2/2018
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
Green Bonds ,
Investment ,
Loan Market Association ,
Member State ,
MiFID II ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Shareholder Proposals
On 20 July 2017, Belgium adopted legislation establishing senior non-preferred notes, a new category of debt securities available to banking institutions. The law provides for a new Article 389/1 into the Law of 25 April 2014...more
The Pre-Emption Group has released a monitoring report which looks at the implementation of the Statement of Principles and the template resolutions regarding disapplication published by the Group in May 2016. The Statement...more
The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") published a policy statement on 26 October 2017 setting out certain amendments to the Listing Rules ("LRs") and related technical notes ("Policy Statement"). The FCA...more
During the last decade, negative interest rates have raised concerns in the European debt capital markets landscape. Prospectuses often allow the issuance of debt securities for which the interest rate is linked to indexes...more
12/7/2017
/ AMF ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
Corporate Issuers ,
EU ,
EU Prospectus Regime ,
EURIBOR ,
France ,
Interest Rates ,
Investors ,
Libor
On 20 July 2017, the new EU Prospectus Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1129) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or...more
On 25 June 2017, the new German Money Laundering Act came into force, which primarily implements the 4th European Anti-Money-Laundering Directive (EU 2015/849) into German law. Among others, the Act establishes a new...more
The London Stock Exchange published AIM Notice 47 ("Notice") on 13 October 2017 in respect of the requirement that all AIM companies with securities admitted to trading on AIM obtain a Legal Entity Identifier ("LEI") code. It...more