The Commission has clarified requirements for financial product classifications and the definition of “sustainable investment” under the SFDR.

By Paul A. DaviesNicola HiggsMichael D. GreenAnne Mainwaring, and James Bee

In April 2023, the European Commission (Commission) published a series of answers to questions that the European Supervisory Agencies (ESAs) had raised in September 2022 on the legal interpretation of certain aspects of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The answers seek to clarify outstanding questions from stakeholders, including in relation to the definition of “sustainable investment” under the SFDR. Previous uncertainty with respect to this definition contributed to considerable market movement in the form of product re-classifications in the latter half of 2022.

The government published a new document outlining its existing and proposed objectives to develop the UK’s sustainable economy.

By Paul A. DaviesMichael D. Green, and James Bee

On 30 March 2023, the UK government published an updated version of its Green Finance Strategy (the Strategy), titled “Mobilising Green Investment”. The Strategy is part of the UK government’s series of announcements for its Green Day (see this blog post for more on the broader Green Day announcements).

The Commission is also consulting on proposed targeted amendments to the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and on the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.

By Paul A. DaviesMichael D. Green, and James Bee

On 5 April 2023 the European Commission opened a consultation on its proposal for four additional environmental objectives under the EU Taxonomy Regulation[1] (the Taxonomy), including: (i) sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; (ii) transition to a circular economy; (iii) pollution prevention and control; and (iv) protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The Commission is seeking feedback on technical screening criteria (TSC) for economic activities that may substantially contribute to one or more of those four environmental objectives. The TSC do not only identify the technical requirements that an activity must meet to be considered to make a substantial contribution to one of these areas, they also specify the conditions by which the activities can be considered to not do any significant harm to the remaining areas.

The Commission has already adopted TSC related to the economic activities of two other environmental objectives: climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation.

The Commission is also proposing amendments to the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act, introducing additional activities that may be considered to substantially contribute to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation, as well as the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.

The consultation considers what a potential regulatory regime would look like, and its proposed scope.

By Nicola Higgs, Paul A. Davies, Becky Critchley, Anne Mainwaring, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins

On 30 March 2023, HM Treasury published a consultation on regulating ESG ratings providers, which ties in with and was published alongside the UK government’s latest Green Finance Strategy paper.

The government announced as part of the Edinburgh Reforms last year that HM Treasury would consult on a potential regulatory regime for ESG ratings providers. Now HM Treasury is seeking views on whether such a regime should be introduced, and what its potential scope should be. The government is not proposing to regulate ESG data providers for the time being. The consultation is open until 30 June 2023; no further timetable has been set at this stage but it could take a couple of years for any new regime to be finalised and take effect.

The regulator is concerned that ESG-related disclosures are not meeting expectations.

By Nicola Higgs, Becky Critchley, Anne Mainwaring, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins

The FCA has published a Dear CEO letter sent to benchmark administrators on 20 March 2023, expressing concerns about the quality of their ESG-related disclosures. The FCA’s concerns are based upon a preliminary review of ESG benchmarks, which assessed the disclosures made by a sample of UK benchmark administrators. The review found the quality of ESG-related disclosures to be poor, and the letter sets out the FCA’s specific findings in this regard. The FCA states that it is acutely aware that poor practices in this area could lead to claims of greenwashing and dilute trust and confidence in ESG labelling. Therefore, the FCA is not only concerned about technical compliance with disclosure requirements, but also about ensuring the integrity of ESG-related products.

Latham’s Global Co-Chair of the Financial Institutions Industry Group, Nicola Higgs, sits down with Lucy McNulty, host of the Following the Rules podcast, to discuss how financial services firms should adapt to the constant evolution of ESG requirements.

In this podcast interview, host Lucy McNulty talks to Nicola Higgs, Latham’s Global Co-Chair of the Financial Institutions Industry Group, about the rapid changes in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements and how financial services firms should best respond.

“The ESG regulatory reform agenda presents quite an unprecedented challenge for management teams of regulated firms and in particular those with an international footprint,” says Higgs, who advises banks, fund managers, and insurers on UK and European financial services regulatory matters as a partner in Latham’s London office.

The FCA hopes the proposals will protect consumer trust in ESG-related financial products and help consumers navigate the increasingly complex ESG-related financial market.

By Paul A. DaviesNicola HiggsMichael D. Green, James Bee, and Anne Mainwaring

On 25 October 2022, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a consultation paper (the Consultation Paper) on Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels.[1] According to the FCA, investment firms in the UK may intentionally or unintentionally be making exaggerated, misleading, or unsubstantiated sustainability-related claims about their products — also known as greenwashing — which has impacted consumer confidence in ESG-related or sustainable investment products in the UK. The proposals in the Consultation Paper seek to address this risk and restore consumer faith.

The policy change integrates climate change considerations for the first time into the ECB’s quantitative easing and repo facilities.

By Roberto Reyes Gaskin, Edward Kempson, and Peter Neuböck

On July 4, 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would integrate climate change considerations into Eurosystem monetary policy through changes to its corporate bond asset purchase program and its credit operations, to be implemented from October 2022 (the 2022 Announcement). The initial disclosure regarding this policy shift was tantalizingly brief, but nonetheless the 2022 Announcement has a number of implications for sustainable finance, the European investment grade debt market and, by extension, the entire European debt capital markets.

HM Treasury’s Transition Plan Taskforce aims to influence international standard setting and make the UK the world’s first net zero-aligned financial centre.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, James Bee, and Dianne Bell

On 25 April 2022, HM Treasury (HMT) announced the launch of the UK Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) to help drive decarbonisation by ensuring that financial institutions and companies prepare plans to achieve net zero, as well as to support efforts to tackle greenwashing. This move is an important step connected with the UK’s development of the new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime that Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced at his Mansion House speech in July 2021. HMT’s stated aim is to develop “a gold standard for climate transition plans” and for the UK to become the world’s first net zero-aligned financial centre.

An increasing number of companies are making public commitments to decarbonise their operations and reach net zero emissions, but transition plans announced so far are, according to the TPT, “varied in detail and quality”,[i] thereby limiting the ability of stakeholders to assess the credibility of such transition plans. Proposed rules announced by the Chancellor at COP26 would require large companies and certain financial sector firms to publish a transition plan from 2023. The TPT will, over the next two years, develop: (i) a sector-neutral framework for private sector transition plans; (ii) a sector-specific guidance for finance and other sectors; and (iii) recommendations regarding the preparation and use of transition plans. The TPT’s expectations are for such transition plans to be science-based and to help inform the UK’s SDR. (See Latham’s recent briefing for an outline of the SDR regime.)

As the FCA’s remit continues to grow, the regulator pledges flexibility in the face of global financial and geopolitical headwinds.

By Rob Moulton, Anne Mainwaring, Jaime O’Connell, and Dianne Bell

On 7 April 2022, the FCA released its new Business Plan as part of a package including  a three-year strategy document setting out the outcomes it expects all firms to deliver across UK markets. In his introductory message, FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi noted that the regulator’s broad and growing remit means “prioritisation is inevitable”. The FCA’s more outcomes-based approach means its commitments for the next three years fall into three stated areas of focus:

  1. Reducing and preventing serious harm: for example, protecting consumers from harm caused by authorised firms, including tackling fraud and poor treatment. The FCA expects to “harness data to assess problems more quickly”, with the aim of preventing harm from happening in the first place.
  2. Setting and testing higher standards: for example, focusing on the impact authorised firms’ actions have on consumers and markets. The FCA expects the new Consumer Duty to give firms greater certainty about how they should treat consumers as well as flexibility on how they deliver good outcomes.
  3. Promoting competition and positive change: greater regulatory open-mindedness, for example, by building on the globally copied “sandbox” and introducing a “scalebox”.