On 5 March 2024, the European Commission adopted a delegated regulation that will supplement the EU Securitisation Regulation with regulatory technical standards (“RTS“) in relation to simple, transparent and standardised (“STS“) securitisations where the underlying exposures are residential loans or auto loans or leases. The RTS specify the content, methodologies and
Although Environmental, Social and Governance-related (“ESG”) initiatives continue to face some political headwinds, and the ESG-linked debt market suffered a downturn in 2023, a nascent product type is piquing the interest of certain players in the sustainable debt space. Several debtors have entered the so-called blue financing space in an effort to
On 7 December 2023, the Commission tabled three legislative proposals (the “Proposal(s)”) to implement the “One-substance-one-assessment” (“OSOA”) announced in the European Green Deal and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (“CSS”).
At present, different harmonised agencies may carry out the safety assessments of the same chemicals under different pieces of harmonized legislation, at different times and often using different data. This, according to the Commission, creates inefficiencies and may result in inconsistent and less predictable regulatory outcomes.Continue Reading Initial reflections on the recent ‘one substance, one assessment’ EU proposals
On 28 November 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) published its “Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR“) and investment labels” policy statement (PS23/16) (the “Policy Statement“). The Policy Statement introduces a set of new rules aimed at tackling greenwashing, including investment product sustainability labels and restrictions on how terms
The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) has today published three useful explanatory notes covering key topics of the European sustainable finance framework, namely: a) the definition of “sustainable investments”; b) the application of do no significant harm (“DNSH“) principle; and c) the use of estimates.
The explanatory notes set out
Brazil’s draft Sustainable Taxonomy Action Plan (the Action Plan), prepared by the Ministry of Finance, is currently under public consultation and receiving contributions and comments for its improvement. The deadline for taking part in the public consultation is October 20, 2023.
The development of a sustainable taxonomy seeks to address Brazil’s main environmental and social
The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD“) entered into force on 5 January 2023 and the associated European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS“) were adopted by the European Commission on 31 July 2023. Together, the CSRD and ESRS create detailed sustainability reporting requirements that will apply to a significant number of EU and non-EU companies and substantially increase the scope of their sustainability reporting.
Application of the rules is now imminent and, for some, CSRD reporting periods will begin from 1 January 2024.
In this update, we take a look at the implications of the CSRD for non-EU companies and what companies can do to prepare.Continue Reading The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is upon us – what non-EU companies should know and do
On 27 July 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (the “ISSB”) published the Proposed IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy for public consultation. The IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy, which follows the ISSB’s issuance of the IFRS sustainability disclosure standards (the “Standards”) (which we reported here), is a digital taxonomy designed to facilitate digital reporting of sustainability-related financial information and to improve accessibility and comparability of such information by investors and regulators globally. Notably, the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy is not a taxonomy for categorising sustainability ratings or attributes of specific activities such as the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities.Continue Reading ISSB Publishes IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy for Consultation
On 31 July 2023, the European Commission adopted the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS“). EU and non-EU entities subject to the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD“) will be required to report against the ESRS, making the development of interest to entities preparing for reporting under the CSRD regime.Continue Reading European Commission adopts the European Sustainability Reporting Standards
On 26 June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”) issued its long-awaited inaugural global sustainability disclosure standards: IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures) (together, the “Standards”). The ISSB also released a related Sustainability Standards Navigator tool and a three-minute video. The