The funds industry continues to wait for regulators and legislators to review and fix the multiple flaws in the existing SFDR regime. In the meantime, in July 2023, ESMA launched a “common supervisory action” ("CSA”)...more
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation....more
EU competent authorities seem to be stepping up enforcement actions for SFDR disclosure acting as a timely reminder for fund managers to ensure that holdings and procedures for allocating investments align with statements in...more
On 19 November 2024, the Council of the European Union formally adopted the new ESG Ratings Regulation (the “Regulation”), following a proposal from the European Commission on 13 June 2023 and an agreement with the European...more
Welcome to the third edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect...more
An accelerating focus on doing business responsibly will force changes to wide-ranging aspects of business operations and strategy - Societal expectations of businesses have shifted fundamentally over the past five years....more
On 7 August 2024, the European Commission published draft FAQs on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) clarifying the interpretation of certain provisions within the CSRD, the European Sustainability...more
Key topics in Akin’s July 2024 Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update include: Updated Assessment of SFDR by EU Regulators: The European Supervisory Authorities have proposed changes to the Sustainable Finance...more
The ESAs urge the European Commission to consider a labelling rather than a disclosure regime to help consumers understand the sustainability goals of financial products....more
On 14 May 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidelines ESMA34-472-440 Final Report on the Guidelines on funds names (europa.eu) on the use of ESG- or sustainability-related terms...more
Guidelines indicate when asset managers may legitimately use ESG or sustainability-related terms in their fund names. On 14 May 2024, ESMA published its final Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG- or...more
The AIFMD contains numerous ongoing obligations that apply to sponsors and funds long after fundraising has completed. As part of our AIFMD refresher series, this article summarises one of the key AIFMD ongoing requirements...more
The Commission has launched a far reaching consultation and review of SFDR, long expected by the industry. This bulletin provides an overview, as well as giving thought as to what we might see in terms of SFDR 2.0....more
The main provisions of the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation have been in force since 2021, but compliance remains a challenge for many market participants. Here is an update on the state of play....more
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is a European regulation that has applied directly in the EU (and EEA countries) since March 2021. The aim of the SFDR is to provide harmonised disclosure requirements,...more
In this alert, we provide a round-up of the latest developments in ESG for UK corporates. In this month’s ESG Market Alert, we cover: Market Practice Update: Harnessing ESG opportunities in private equity EU Parliament...more
At Cooley, we’re increasingly speaking to clients in the US, Asia and elsewhere who are surprised by the intensity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) requests and covenants coming from their investors. Often these...more
The European Commission has rejected suggestions that it introduce minimum environmental standards for Article 8 or Article 9 funds under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). On April 14, 2023, the...more
When my private equity peers ask me how to handle ESG disclosures, my answer is typically, “don’t let the tail wag the dog.” What I mean, is it’s better to proactively report on what you know to be the most material and...more
In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been active in providing guidance and publishing new environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements. But the European community continues to...more
As we round up 2022, December has remained lively in terms of ESG and sustainability-related disclosures developments in the UK, EU and internationally. This round-up provides a summary of the key updates over the past month...more
SFDR and Asset Allocators. The European Green Deal declared climate change and environmental degradation as existential threats to Europe and the world. The European Union (EU) has set out to mobilize private financial...more
In a busy month for ESG and sustainability-disclosures developments, we take a look back at key developments such as the long-awaited publication of the UK FCA proposals around sustainability related disclosures and labelling...more
After a relatively quiet August in the area of sustainable finance-related disclosures, we have looked back throughout September 2022 and summarised the key points coming out of the EU....more
Welcome to July’s edition of the ESG Regulation Monthly Round-Up. Once again, it was a busy month on the SFDR and Taxonomy front following the (i) European Supervisory Authorities' report on voluntary disclosure of principal...more