In brief
A series of briefings that take a bite-size look at international trends in different jurisdictions, drawing on Baker McKenzie’s expert financial services practitioners with local market knowledge.
This edition takes a bite-size look at the latest environment, social and governance (ESG) developments in Brazil, the European Union, Belgium, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
Key takeaways
Since we looked at ESG in our July 2021 edition, significant progress has been made internationally on creating a regulatory framework.
- As was the case then, there are still widely different rates of progress, but international standards are now firmly entrenched and many jurisdictions besides the EU have either enacted compulsory rules on reporting and disclosure or are in the process of doing so.
- We are now seeing actual implementation and firms dealing with the complexities, such as over how green to label funds.
- Other areas coming to the fore include a focus on the quality of ESG data from corporates on which financial institutions rely to make their disclosures.
- That said, leaders in the financial sector are without doubt most concerned about the risk of litigation and enforcement action arising out of allegations of green washing. Terms such as “green hushing” and “green bleaching” have emerged where businesses choose to remain silent about or downplay their firms’ or products’ ESG attributes. The US, where regulation is enforcement-led, is out in front but other jurisdictions are starting to see cases being brought.
- While ESG potentially brings financial institutions opportunities to grow their business, the risks require careful governance and management.
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Author
Benja Supannakul
Benja is a partner in the Bangkok office of Baker McKenzie. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2001 and is specialized in the areas of financial products including but not limited to derivatives, structured products, structured finance, wealth management, private banking, fund management and debt capital market, especially in regard to the regulatory matters. She has been also acting as a Thai legal counsel for ISDA Association and regularly advises international banks, capital markets intermediaries, fund managers, insurance companies and other financial institutions on financial services compliance and regulatory matters. She has been recognized by several of the world's leading legal directories.
Author
Caitlin McErlane
Caitlin is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services Regulatory practice group, based in the London office.
Caitlin's practice focuses on advising a range of global financial institutions on complex and high value regulatory matters. She advises banks, asset managers, major corporates and payment institutions on navigating UK and EU financial services regulation. She has particular experience in advising clients on regulatory implementation projects, day-to-day compliance issues, and regulatory issues arising in the context of acquisitions, restructurings, and divestments within the financial services sector. Caitlin also advises market infrastructure providers on markets regulation and the provision of cross-border trading solutions.
Caitlin leads our London office’s ESG regulatory work for financial institutions, and advises a range of clients on the drafting and implementation of ESG policies and structuring ESG-focused investment products. Caitlin is an authority on regulatory reforms in the sustainability space and sits on a number of trade association working groups.
Caitlin has been recognised as a "Leading Partner" by The Legal 500 UK, where she is cited by clients as "a great lawyer [who] has a photographic recollection of regulations which makes her an amazing resource for any tricky topic." She is ranked by Chambers for financial services regulation, where clients describe her as "an expert in her field", a "phenomenal regulatory lawyer" and "a highly responsive and excellent communicator" who "consistently provides pragmatic solutions that are within the regulatory framework". Caitlin is also acknowledged by Legal 500 as a Next Generation Partner in Real Estate Funds.
Author
Shaneil Shah
Shaneil Shah is a senior associate in the Financial Services Regulatory Group in the London office.
Shaneil provides strategic regulatory advice to clients across the regulated sector, with a particular focus on the regulations applicable to fund managers, investment firms, market infrastructure, banks and insurers. He advises clients throughout their regulatory lifecycle, from pre-authorisation, through to business expansion and on responding to new regulatory developments. Shaneil also advises on contentious matters, including investigations and enforcement proceedings brought by financial regulators, internal regulatory investigations and financial services disputes.
Shaneil has particular experience advising clients on complex regulatory implementation projects, and has worked closely with a number of asset managers to launch novel products for both retail and wholesale investors. He also advises a wide range of clients on developments in ESG regulations, including the EU’s SFDR and Taxonomy Regulations and the UK’s ESG regime.
Shaneil has undertaken secondments to the London branch of a global investment bank (focusing on contentious matters) and to Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong.
