The European Securities and Markets Authority has announced that Ana María Martínez-Pina Garcia, (Vice-Chair of the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores in Spain) has been appointed as Chair of ESMA's new Coordination Network on Sustainability.

View the announcement.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its final report and technical advice to the European Commission on incorporating sustainability risks and factors into European regulation. The European Commission sought advice from ESMA and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority in July 2018 on the introduction of environmental, social and governance considerations into the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, the Insurance Distribution Directive, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive and the Solvency II Directive. The introduction of sustainability considerations into European regulation sits against the backdrop of the European Commission's Sustainability Action Plan, which aims to encourage sustainable investment and mitigate climate change risk in line with the 2016 Paris Agreement and UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In response, ESMA opened consultations seeking input from stakeholders, which closed on February 19, 2019.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a Policy Statement and related Supervisory Statement on enhancing banks’ and insurers’ approaches to managing the financial risks from climate change. The statements are in response to the PRA’s consultation paper published in 2018 which sought feedback on the draft Supervisory Statement. The Statements are relevant to all U.K. insurance and reinsurance firms, banks, building societies and PRA-designated investment firms.

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The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority have published press releases following the first meeting of the Climate Financial Risk Forum on March 8, 2019. The CFRF is a joint forum established by the PRA and FCA in late 2018. The CFRF aims to encourage financial sector approaches towards managing the financial risks from climate change as well as supporting green finance. The CFRF will develop practical tools and approaches to reduce the barriers for firms looking to adopt a strategy for minimizing financial risks from climate change. The regulators are concerned with both the impact of climate change itself and the transition to supporting a low carbon economy. Both the FCA and the PRA consulted in late 2018 on the impact of climate change. The PRA consulted on a draft Supervisory Statement on managing the financial risks from climate change and the FCA consulted on climate change and green finance and the potential changes to its regulatory approach to these issues. The FCA consultation set out specific actions that the FCA intends to take in the short term in four areas - capital markets disclosures, public reporting requirements, green finance and pensions.

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In its Interim Report on green bonds, the Technical Expert Group has made a proposal for an EU Green Bond Standard. Green bonds are bonds specifically earmarked to be used for climate-related and environmental projects. The aim of the consultation was, in light of the European Commission’s Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth published in March 2018, to create a standard that would further improve the credibility of green bonds and help the EU market mature.

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The European Commission issued a call for advice to each of the European Supervisory Authorities requesting evidence and possible advice on potential undue short-term pressure by financial service participants on corporations. The call for advice relates to Action 10 of the EU's Sustainable Finance Action Plan, which aims to foster transparency and long-termism in financial and economic activity by exploring possible drivers of undue short-termism. The Commission wants the ESA's report to: (i) provide evidence of any short-termism and, if any, the consequences thereof; (ii) assess the drivers of such short-termism, including the effects of regulation on financial market participants, for example, the guidance on remuneration practices; (iii) identify existing regulations that either mitigate or exacerbate short-term pressures; and (iv) evaluate the need for regulatory or policy action and propose specific areas where action is needed.

The Commission considers that pressure of this kind could lead corporations to overlook long-term risks and opportunities, such as those related to climate change and other factors related to sustainability. Companies facing short-term pressure could, as a result, forgo investment in areas important for a successful transition towards a sustainable economy. The ESAs are due to publish their report in December 2019.

View the call for advice.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions has launched a consultation on sustainable finance in emerging markets and the role of securities regulators. The consultation discusses the challenges affecting the development of sustainable finance in capital markets, focusing on sustainable assets in emerging markets and measures to facilitate market development in this area. Responses to the consultation can be submitted by April 1, 2019.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a Discussion Paper on climate change and green finance in which it calls for comment on potential changes to its regulatory approach in these areas. The Discussion Paper sets out specific action that the FCA intends to take in the short term in four focus areas - capital markets disclosures, public reporting requirements, green finance and pensions.

First, the FCA is considering whether the regulatory approach to disclosures by issuers in the capital markets should be amended. In particular, the FCA is asking for comments on: (i) the difficulties that issuers may have in determining materiality of climate-related issues such that a specific disclosure would be warranted; (ii) whether investors would benefit from greater comparability of disclosures; (iii) whether further prescribed requirements on climate-related disclosures should be introduced to facilitate more consistent disclosures by issuers. This final point includes whether the introduction of a "comply or explain" approach to the Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures would facilitate more effective markets.

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The Prudential Regulation Authority has published a consultation paper on a draft Supervisory Statement on managing the financial risks from climate change. The consultation follows the PRA's publication in September 2018 of its report "Transition in thinking: The impact of climate change on the U.K. banking sector." The consultation paper is relevant to banks, insurers, re-insurers, building societies and PRA-designated investment firms. The PRA wants firms to take a strategic approach to financial risks from climate change by taking into account current and credible risks and identifying actions needed now to mitigate existing and future risks.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a report entitled "Transition in thinking: The impact of climate change on the U.K. banking sector".

The purpose of the report is to: (i) examine the financial risks from climate change that impact PRA regulated banks, building societies and designated investment firms; (ii) assess how those entities are responding to and managing the financial risks from climate change; and (iii) assist those entities in understanding the PRA's supervisory approach to the financial risks from climate change. The report will also be used to inform the Bank of England's wider work to assess the system-wide financial risks from climate change.

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The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures has issued a status report outlining progress on adoption of the TCFD disclosure recommendations issued in June 2017. The TCFD was established by the Financial Stability Board in 2015 and its 2017 recommendations provide a voluntary framework for companies to develop more effective climate-related financial disclosures through their existing reporting processes. The recommendations are structured around four areas: (i) governance; (ii) strategy; (iii) risk management; and (iv) metrics and targets.

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The European Commission has published a package of legislative reforms on sustainable finance. The aim of the package of reforms, which form part of the Commission's broader Capital Markets Union initiative, is to ensure that environmental, social and governance considerations are consistently integrated into the investment and advisory process across sectors. The proposed measures comprise:

(i) a proposed Regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment. This will establish an EU-wide classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities and ensure that investment strategies are oriented towards economic activities that genuinely contribute to achieving environmental objectives. The proposed Regulation will empower the European Commission to adopt delegated acts to specify technical screening criteria to assess the contribution of a given economic activity to a particular environmental objective as substantial. A list of six environmental objectives is set out in the proposed regulation, namely: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; transition to a circular economy, waste prevention and recycling; pollution prevention and control; and protection of healthy ecosystems (which includes biodiversity conservation).

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The Financial Stability Board published its letter, dated February 22, 2016, to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in advance of the G20 meeting in Shanghai. The letter sets out the FSB's priorities for 2016 which are: (i) to support the full and consistent implementation of the agreed regulatory reforms by reporting on progress  and assessing whether reforms result in their intended outcomes; (ii) analyzing structural vulnerabilities in asset management activities, including developing policy responses on liquidity mismatch in funds, leverage within funds, operational risks in transferring investment mandates and securities lending activities of funds and asset managers; (iii) to publish a peer review on the implementation of the shadow banking framework; (iv) reducing misconduct risk, in particular, the role of incentives in preventing misconduct; (v) addressing the decline in correspondent banking (about which the FSB published a four-point plan in 2015); (vi) disclosure of climate-related financial risks; (vii) CCP resilience and recovery; (viii) assessing macro-prudential policy frameworks and tools; (ix) completing the regulatory capital framework for banks; (x) assessing implementation of resolution reforms including the total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) framework published at the end of 2015; (xi) removing legal and regulatory barriers to reporting of derivatives trades; and (xii) assessing the implications of financial technology for financial stability. The G20 published a Communiqué following the Shanghai meeting which refers to the FSB's work and notes the progress made on implementing financial regulatory reforms.
 
View the FSB letter.

View the G20 Communique.