On 26 February 2025, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its “Omnibus I” or “Sustainability Omnibus” package as part of its mission to improve the competitiveness of the European Union. The Omnibus Package...more
2/27/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
Over the past few years, we have seen growing interest in Commercial Paper (CP) programmes with a sustainable focus.
Traditionally used by corporations, financial institutions, sovereigns, and other issuers for...more
2/18/2025
/ Capital Markets ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Renewable Energy ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Sustainable Projects
Christmas is coming early to the ESG bond market as the new EU Green Bond Standard applies from 21 December 2024.
The new standard is conceptually similar to existing ICMA use of proceeds standards but quite different in...more
12/23/2024
/ Capital Markets ,
Corporate Finance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Green Bonds ,
Green Finance ,
Greenwashing ,
International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Taxonomy ,
Voluntary Disclosure
The EU Taxonomy Regulation (the "Regulation") is a highly complex piece of legislation which sets out a classification framework in order to determine whether an economic activity carried out by an undertaking is...more
6/7/2024
/ Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Human Rights ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Taxonomy
On April 24, 2024, the Loan Market Association (the “LMA”) published its Sustainability Coordinator Letter (the “LMA Letter”). According to the LMA, the LMA Letter is “intended to provide a starting point for a sustainability...more
On 14 May 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") published its final report on "Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms" (the "Guidelines"). The Guidelines aim to provide...more
5/16/2024
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Funds ,
New Guidance ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
UCITS
On 23 April 2024, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) published its “Finalised non‑handbook guidance on the Anti‑Greenwashing Rule (FG/24/3)” (the “Guidance“). The FCA has published the Guidance to help in-scope...more
Although Environmental, Social and Governance-related (“ESG”) initiatives continue to face some political headwinds, and the ESG-linked debt market suffered a downturn in 2023, a nascent product type is piquing the interest...more
Climate disclosure regulations are among the most significant and complex challenges faced by companies and boards, with a variety of requirements emanating from numerous governmental authorities and non-governmental...more
On March 15, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted an administrative stay of the climate-related disclosure rules recently adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SEC rules...more
On 28 November 2023, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") published its "Sustainability Disclosure Requirements ("SDR") and investment labels" policy statement (PS23/16) (the "Policy Statement"). The Policy Statement...more
11/30/2023
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment ,
Policy Statement ,
Retail Investors ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) entered into force on 5 January 2023 and the associated European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”) were adopted by the European Commission on 31 July...more
On 11 July 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a public statement on sustainability disclosure in prospectuses, available here: ESMA32-1399193447-441 Statement on sustainability disclosure in...more
The risk of an accusation of “greenwashing” is now an important concern for many companies. Greenwashing is an ill-defined concept but, nevertheless, is increasingly a source of litigation and regulatory scrutiny – with more...more
7/7/2023
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
Offsets ,
Reputation Management ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament announced, on 28 February 2023, that provisional agreement on the European Green Bond Standard (the EU GBS and the Regulation) had been reached. More recently the...more
Sustainability-linked bonds (“SLBs”) have fast become an important feature of the sustainable finance market. According to Climate Bonds Initiative, SLB issuance reached US$76.3 billion in 2022 and we have seen an...more
INSIGHT: REVERSE YANKEES -
In this briefing, we take a look at the basics of “Reverse Yankees” – offshore debt issuances by US issuers in a currency other than US dollars – when and why they might be an attractive funding...more
On 28 February 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the creation of the European Green Bond Standard (“EU GBS“).
...more
On 10 November 2022, the EU Parliament adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ("CSRD"). The EU Council is expected to adopt the CSRD on 28 November 2022, after which it will be published in the Official...more