On 21 August 2024, ESMA published the translations in all official EU languages of its Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms (the Guidelines).
The Guidelines will start applying on 21...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
5/16/2024
/ AIFM ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
UCITS
The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) anti-greenwashing rule (Rule) will come into effect on 31 May 2024 and applies to all FCA-authorised firms.
The Rule requires that references made to the sustainability...more
BaFin has updated and expanded its "Questions and Answers" (Q&A) on the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS).
In addition, BaFin published guidance on how the...more
8/23/2023
/ AIFM ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
BaFin ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Guidance Update ,
National Competent Authorities (NCA) ,
Regulation Technical Standards (RTS) ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UCITS
On 5 July 2023, BaFin, Germany's financial supervisory authority, outlined its sustainable finance strategy (the Strategy). The Strategy focuses on five areas that BaFin views as key to supporting the transition to a more...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
6/23/2023
/ AMF ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Payments Council (ECP) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
RTS ,
SFDR ,
Taxonomy
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
11/18/2022
/ AIFM ,
Alternative Investment Funds ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Distributors ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment ,
Labeling ,
Marketing ,
Retail Investors ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
UCITS ,
UK
The German Financial Regulator, ("BaFin"), published guidance ("Guidance") on 5 September 2022, that provides some further clarity on various questions on the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation ("SFDR"). BaFin has...more
10/5/2022
/ BaFin ,
Data Collection ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Commission ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Products ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Germany ,
MiFID ,
New Guidance ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy
The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the Luxembourg financial services regulator, on 27 July 2022 issued a communication to the investment fund industry reminding it of the deadline of 1 January 2023...more
This latest edition of the regulatory initiatives paper sets out at a high level the core regulatory issues that are likely to impact private fund managers in the coming months, including an overview of the key actions needed...more
9/22/2022
/ Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Commission Delegated Regulation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptoassets ,
Custody Rule ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
ELTIF ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EONIA ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Act ,
Form PF ,
FSOC ,
Fund Managers ,
Hedge Funds ,
Hong Kong ,
ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) ,
Investors ,
Libor ,
MiFID ,
MiFID II ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Private Funds ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulatory Standards ,
REIT ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Russia ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
SFDR ,
Supply Chain ,
Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) ,
UCITS ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Ukraine
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288, setting out the regulatory technical standards (RTS) to be used by financial market participants (FMPs) when disclosing sustainability-related information under the Sustainable...more
A brief recap – ESAs’ January 2021 letter to the EU Commission, EU Commission response and adoption of RTS
Signed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on 27 November 2019 and published in the...more
As set out in our earlier OnPoint, “Is Brexit Green?”, the UK has adopted a different approach to regulating ESG in the asset management sector compared to the EU by not “on-shoring” the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure...more
4/4/2022
/ Asset Management ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation Papers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Management ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SFDR ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
UK
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) empowered the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to develop draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on taxonomy-related product disclosures. On 15 March 2021, the...more
As set out in our earlier OnPoint “Is Brexit Green?”1, the UK has adopted a different approach to ESG compared to the EU, by not “on-shoring” the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) and focussing...more
A brief recap - ESAs' letter to the EU Commission January 2021 On 7 January 2021 – less than eight weeks before the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)1 ‘go live’ date – the Chair of the Joint Committee of the...more
In a letter dated 8 July 2021, the European Commission’s Director-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union confirmed that the date of application of the regulatory technical standards...more
Introduction -
On 10 March 2021, the main operative provisions of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (2019/2088) (SFDR) began to apply. However, rather than marking the end of the ESG journey, it is just the...more
6/28/2021
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Green Finance ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
How will recent EU regulatory developments and the change of U.S. administration impact ESG in asset management? In this episode of our Committed Capital private equity podcast series, Dechert financial services partner...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
1/26/2021
/ AMF Doctrine ,
Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Investment ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
SFDR
A brief recap -
The main operative provisions of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) will apply from 10 March 2021. The SFDR included provisions requiring the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to...more
Asset managers across geographies and asset classes are increasingly incorporating environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations at all levels of the investment management business. Increased focus on ESG has...more
Tackling climate change is not a new initiative in the UK. Indeed, the UK was one of the first countries worldwide to endorse the recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) – aimed at...more
12/3/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Statements ,
Green Finance ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
What is the law?
Directive (EU) 2017/828 (“SRD II”), amending the Shareholder Rights Directive (2007/36/EC), came into force on 9 June 2017 [link]. SRD II introduced new transparency obligations on “institutional...more
11/16/2020
/ AIFM ,
Asset Management ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
European Shareholders' Rights Directive II (SRD II) ,
Institutional Investors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
UCITS