On 10 December 2021, there was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of 6 July 2021 supplementing the Taxonomy Regulation by specifying the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by undertakings subject to Articles 19a or 29a of the Accounting Directive concerning environmentally sustainable … Continue Reading
On 9 December 2021, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021 supplementing the Taxonomy Regulation by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and … Continue Reading
On 7 December 2021, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published a news item in which it indicates that banks, insurers and pension funds must better account for sustainability risks. This follows on DNB’s press conference during which they, among other things, presented the result of their new study ‘Towards a sustainable balance’ … Continue Reading
On 29 November 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a letter from John Berrigan, Deputy Director-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission, to Irene Tinagli, Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, European Parliament and Andrej Šircelj, President of the Ecofin Council, Council of the … Continue Reading
On 25 November 2021, the European Commission published a proposal for the Regulation establishing a European single access point (ESAP) providing centralised access to publicly available information of relevance to financial services, capital markets and sustainability. The establishment of a ESAP by 2024 is a main goal of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan adopted … Continue Reading
On 23 November 2021, the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a final report with a set of recommendations calling for oversight of ESG Ratings and Data Product Providers. The use of ESG ratings and data products has grown considerably in response to investors’ mounting interest in investing in companies that … Continue Reading
On 22 November 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a report, ‘The state of climate and environmental risk management in the banking sector’, which assesses how European banks are adjusting their practices to manage climate and environmental (C&E) risks, in line with the expectations set out in the November 2020 ECB Guide on C&E risks. … Continue Reading
On 19 November 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a speech by its chair, Verena Ross. In her speech Mrs Ross covers three issues: The growing importance of ESG in finance and the risk of greenwashing. The ESMA observes that the rapidly growing demand for ESG products coupled with a regulatory regime … Continue Reading
On 4 November 2021, the International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) published a Common Ground Taxonomy package consisting of: Instruction report. Common ground taxonomy table. Call for feedback. The IPSF is a multilateral forum that aims to enable the exchange of practices and increase international cooperation on sustainable finance related matters. Part of this work … Continue Reading
On 4 November 2021, the International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) published a report on the state and trends of ESG disclosure policy measures across the IPSF jurisdictions, Brazil and the US. The report provides an overview of the state of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure related policy measures, including laws, regulations, recommendations and … Continue Reading
On 4 November 2021, Erik Thedéen, the Chair of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Sustainable Finance Task Force gave a speech at the Green Horizons Summit during COP26, to discuss the IOSCO’s recent work on sustainable finance. The IOSCO’s work has focused on issuers and asset managers’ disclosures, alongside the role of ESG … Continue Reading
On 3 November 2021, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) launched a new TCFD Guidance Template to help financial institutions align their climate-related disclosures with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), with a focus on the banking sector. Drawing in observed industry practices, including mapping and benchmarking of TCFD reports … Continue Reading
On 2 November 2021, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a final report containing a set of recommendations on sustainability-related practices, policies, procedures and disclosure in asset management. The final report also sets out the findings from IOSCO fact finding exercises that included a survey of its members concerning regulatory and supervisory approaches … Continue Reading
On 22 October 2021, the ESAs delivered to the European Commission their Final Report with the draft RTS regarding disclosures under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) as amended by the Regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (Taxonomy Regulation). The disclosures relate to financial products that make sustainable investments contributing … Continue Reading
On 19 October 2021, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published the report “Scenarios in action: a progress report on global supervisory and central bank climate scenario exercises”. The report sets out how a growing number of NGFS members, across all continents, are using climate scenarios to identify, assess and understand climate risk … Continue Reading
On 18 October 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a letter that it had sent to CEOs of significant institutions providing them with information on participation in the 2022 ECB Climate Risk Stress Test. In the letter the ECB explains that the output of the stress test exercise will be integrated into the Supervisory … Continue Reading
On 15 October 2021, the United Nations’ Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) published its first collective progress report on the implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB). The PRB commit signatories to aligning their business strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. Since the launch of the PRB in … Continue Reading
On 14 October 2021, the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) issued a status report for 2021. The status report provides an update on key TCFD-related developments and initiatives as well as the results of the TCFD’s annual review of climate-related reporting. The status report also contains key findings … Continue Reading
On 7 October 2021, the European Parliament issued a press release stating that ECON and ENVI Members had voted jointly to reject a Commission Delegated Regulation which supplements the Taxonomy Regulation by specifying the technical screening criteria under which certain economic activities qualify as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation and … Continue Reading
On 4 October 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published: A report ‘ESG investing and climate transition: Market practices, issues and policy considerations’. The report highlights the main findings from recent OECD research on ESG rating and investing. It offers policy considerations to strengthen ESG practices to foster global interoperability and comparability, … Continue Reading
On 21 September 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) issued the results of its economy-wide climate stress test. The test looked at the impact of climate change on more than four million firms worldwide and 1,600 euro area banks under three different climate policy scenarios. The results show that, although the effects of climate risk … Continue Reading
On 14 September 2021, the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) published a report on the implementation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (the SFDR) by Dutch funds (Rapport Implementatie SFDR, the Report). The SFDR has been applicable since 10 March 2021 and contains requirements for the disclosure of Environmental, Social … Continue Reading
On 27 August, the European Commission (EC) published its final study on the development of tools and mechanism for the integration of ESG factors into the EU banking prudential framework and into banks’ business strategies and investment policuies. The report looks into the integration of ESG risks within banks’ risk management processes and prudential supervision, … Continue Reading
On 2 August 2021, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU, Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/1269 of 21 April 2021 amending Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 as regards the integration of sustainability factors into the product governance obligations. Commission Delegated Directive 2017/593 supplements MiFID II with regard to, amongst other things, product governance … Continue Reading
