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Mark Uhrynuk is a partner of Mayer Brown resident in the Hong Kong office. Mark represents assets managers, family offices and other investor groups, corporations, and financial institutions in a variety of transactional matters. His wide-ranging experience includes private equity and venture capital investment and related financings; cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic alliances; investment fund matters, including the formation of private equity, infrastructure and real estate funds; and international equity and debt capital markets transactions.

Mark is a key contact point for the ESG Initiative within the Mayer Brown network and is a founding member of the Firm’s ESG Steering Committee.  Mark also co-leads the Firm’s Family Office Initiative in the region.  An active thought leader in these fields, Mark has been widely quoted by the leading media and has authored a number of articles and legal updates on these and related topics.

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On February 17, 2023, the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”) published the revised Guidelines on Sustainable and Responsible Investment Funds (“Guidelines”) setting out the reporting and disclosure requirements for a fund to qualify as a Sustainable and Responsible Investment (“SRI”) Fund and, under a new chapter added to the Guidelines

In the Hong Kong government’s 2023-2024 budget, the Financial Secretary, the Hon Paul MP Chan, unveiled various measures to bolster Hong Kong’s economy following the Covid-19 epidemic, with a strong focus on promoting green and sustainable finance and technology and advancing the virtual assets sector (also reported here). 

The following initiatives were announced

On January 15, 2023, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (“FSS”) issued new guidelines (the “Guidelines”) (Korean language only) to enhance transparency on the methods and procedures used by credit rating agencies to perform ESG bond certification evaluations. In announcing the Guidelines, the FSS noted that, prior to their introduction, there were

On 20 December 2022, the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (the “Steering Group”) co-chaired by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) and the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) announced that it has entered into a collaboration arrangement with CDP, an international non-profit organisation that runs the global environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions.

Continue Reading HKMA and SFC Cross-Agency Steering Group Announces Collaboration with CDP to Facilitate Climate-Related Risk Disclosures by Small and Medium Enterprises

On November 25, 2022, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) published a report on its analysis of ESG practice disclosure in Hong Kong (the Report). The Report sets out the SEHK’s findings of their review of compliance by Hong Kong issuers of the new ESG requirements implemented in July 2020, which focused on board governance, climate change, and other ESG issues (2020 Enhancements). We reported here on the related amendments to the SEHK’s Corporate Governance Code and the Listing Rules addressing the link between ESG and good corporate governance, ESG reporting and gender diversity.

Continue Reading Analysis of ESG Practice Disclosure by Hong Kong Stock Exchange

COP27 has now come to a close. Against the global backdrop of political and economic turbulence, many questions were asked as to what could realistically be expected as outcomes of COP27. We now have the answers to those questions.

Continue Reading COP27 Postscript – much ado about nothing?

On 28 October 2022, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEx”) launched Core Climate, an international carbon marketplace designed to allow for the trading of voluntary carbon credits and instruments, which provides a best-in-class, trusted market infrastructure and helps connect capital with climate-related products and opportunities in Hong Kong, Mainland China

Interest in ESG investing continues to attract attention globally as policymakers and regulators around the world implement policies and regulations to direct or guide behavior and protect the interests of a wide range of stakeholders. Against this backdrop, we observe a rising challenge to so-called “woke capitalism”, particularly with the recent wave of anti-ESG sentiment

On October 12, 2022, the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (the “Steering Group”) co-chaired by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) and the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) launched the Sustainable Finance Internship Initiative (the “Initiative”). The Initiative aims to create more internship opportunities in