Greenwashing remains at the top of enforcement agendas in 2024. Marketing products and services as “green” and “sustainable” is a common practice and seen as an important way to attract the attention of environmentally...more
On October 19, 2023, the UK government’s Taskforce on Social Factors (Taskforce) launched a consultation to produce guidance on how pension funds can consider social issues in their investment decisions. The guide is intended...more
12/13/2023
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Pension Schemes ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) ,
UK
On October 17, 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it had opened an investigation into a distributor of heating and insulation products, following allegations that it had made misleading claims...more
According to a survey conducted by KPMG, 75% of companies are not in a position to obtain third-party assurance on their published ESG data. This is despite the fact that two-thirds of companies must disclose such data, or...more
11/29/2023
/ Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Data Management ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
KPMG ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Quality Assurance Programs
In September 2023, the UK’s Institute of Directors (IoD) announced its broad support for changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code proposed by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The FRC’s proposed revisions seek to...more
In August 2023, the UK pensions regulator’s climate and sustainability lead, Mark Hill, authored an article setting out how trustees can improve the climate-scenario analyses used by their schemes, in order to make them more...more
In August 2023, the UK government announced that it would publish guidance on emissions monitoring and reporting for public sector organizations in order to help achieve its aim to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions from...more
In August 2023, following this year’s proxy voting season, two of the world’s largest asset managers published their voting records, which revealed that their support for environmental and social shareholder resolutions had...more
In August 2023, the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee launched an inquiry into the current and future role of private finance in nature recovery, in order to meet its goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050 while...more
In August 2023, the UK’s Department of Business and Trade (DBT) announced the creation of new sustainability rules that are intended to align with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the International...more
9/19/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Finance ,
IFRS ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
In July 2023, the European Commission published its annual Strategic Foresight Report (the Report), focusing on how sustainability and people’s wellbeing can help to achieve President von der Leyen’s six priorities for the...more
On July 6, 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), in collaboration with National Competent Authorities (NCAs), launched the Common Supervisory Action (CSA) aimed at assessing the compliance of supervised...more
On July 5, an industry-led working group convened by the UK’s financial regulator published a draft voluntary code of conduct for ESG data and ratings providers (the Code). The Code would apply to all companies based in the...more
In its 2023 snapshot report (the Climate Litigation Report), the London School of Economics’ Grantham Institute found that climate litigation continues to grow, with 190 new cases filed in the last 12 months, including cases...more
On June 7, 2023, the Swiss advertising regulator, Schweizerische Lauterkeitskommission (SLK), upheld complaints that the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) made false statements about the 2022 FIFA World...more
On May 4, 2023, the United Nations announced the formation of a 35-member bank-led working group to promote nature- and biodiversity-related target setting that is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity...more
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) recently issued a report raising concerns that certain auditing firms had certified client companies’ practices and products as sustainable while ignoring that...more
On February 22, 2023, the UK’s Pensions Regulator (TPR) announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at tightening regulation around ESG data published by trustees, as part of a wider campaign to assess whether trustees are...more
On February 28, 2023, Australia’s securities regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), announced that it had commenced “civil penalty proceedings” in federal court against Mercer Superannuation...more
3/9/2023
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Misleading Statements ,
Popular
On January 24, 2023, Members of the European Parliament voted to adopt reforms to banking rules and implement the international Basel III agreement (Basel III). One of the objectives of Basel III is to enhance focus on ESG...more