On 24 July 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) published an opinion on the sustainable finance regulatory framework (the “ESMA Opinion“), which outlines the ESMA’s long-term vision for the functioning of the EU’s sustainable finance framework (the “Framework“). The ESMA Opinion builds on the findings of the
On 5 February 2024, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement for a regulation on ESG rating activities (the “Proposed EU Regulation“). The Proposed EU Regulation differs in certain respects from the version that was agreed upon by the Council of the EU in December 2023.
The
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
In line with the global trend of increasing importance of sustainability-linked loans, the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the European Leveraged Finance Association jointly published on 5 October 2023 the updated Best Practice Guide to Sustainability-Linked Leveraged Loans (the “Updated Guide”), which contains updates to the original Best Practice Guide to Sustainability-Linked Leveraged Loans published
On 11 July 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a public statement on sustainability disclosure in prospectuses, available here: ESMA32-1399193447-441 Statement on sustainability disclosure in prospectuses (europa.eu).
The statement is addressed to the National Competent Authorities (NCAs) to promote coordinated action regarding sustainability-related disclosure included in prospectuses under current legislation. While the statement is addressed to NCAs, ESMA have said that its contents should be taken into account by issuers and advisers when drawing up a Prospectus Regulation (PR) compliant prospectus that contains sustainability-related disclosure.
Whilst there is little in the way of deviation from best practice here, the statement reflects the enhanced focus of ESMA and NCAs on ESG disclosure and is likely to result in additional commentary from NCAs during the prospectus approval process.
A summary of some of the key takeaways is included below.Continue Reading ESMA release Public Statement on Sustainability Disclosures in Prospectuses
In recent years, we have seen an ever increasing number of lending transactions focused on promoting ESG in Latin America, such as green loans, social loans, sustainability loans and Sustainability-Linked Loans (“SSLs”). In this Legal Update, we focus on the role and impact of SLLs in Latin America.
Continue reading at Mayerbrown.com.
In this report, Mayer Brown and Sedgwick Richardson share the results of our recent survey about sustainable asset management in Asia.
As interest in sustainability continues to grow worldwide, much of the focus has been on Europe and the United States. From the explosive growth of flows into funds classified as Article 8 or 9
This report provides crucial insights into the evolving landscape of ESG and sustainability-related regulations, practices and challenges facing the private equity industry in Asia, and tracks the ESG and sustainability journeys of private equity (PE) fund managers. Continue Reading Sustainable Private Equity in Asia: Through the Lenses of Compliance, Strategy and Branding
On January 1, 2023, the European Commission’s Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 of April 6, 2022 (“Delegated Regulation“), which introduces “Level 2” of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”), entered into force. Level 2 of the SFDR complements and clarifies Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
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