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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.

Click here to access “Bite-size Briefings”.

Author

Stephanie Magnus co-heads the Asia Pacific Financial Institutions Group and heads up the Financial Services Regulatory Practice Group in Singapore. Stephanie is ranked Band 1 for FinTech in Singapore by Chambers FinTech 2020. She is also ranked as a Leading Individual for Financial Services Regulatory: Local Firms in Singapore by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020. She is recognised as a leading lawyer for Banking & Finance: Regulatory in Singapore by Chambers Asia Pacific and Chambers Global 2020. Stephanie was quoted in Chambers Asia Pacific for her "timely, practical and business-oriented" advice, with a "deep understanding of the regulatory regime." She is also recognised as "very business-savvy and brilliant every time," and is admired for her "very strong grasp of the legal issues from both a technical and practical perspective."

Author

Akiko Hosokawa has approximately 20 years of experience assisting clients in various banking and finance and general corporate matters. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Akiko worked for a major Japanese insurance company. She has been a partner since January 2006. She has experience working at Baker McKenzie’s London office, and was seconded to Goldman Sachs (through the London office) and the Financial Services Agency of Japan. She is an adjunct financial law instructor at the University of Tsukuba Law School since 2010 and is also a visiting professor at Chuo University's Graduate School of Strategic Management from 2012 to 2016. She has co-authored several publications related to her field, including Basis and Operation of the New Trust Law in 2007.

Author

Caitlin McErlane is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services & Regulatory Group 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, major corporates, payment institutions and asset managers 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 large-scale transactions. She also expertise in the areas of banking and wholesale financial markets regulation, in particular in the FX and fixed income space, alongside experience advising market infrastructure providers, including major international exchanges, trading platforms, clearing systems and payment services providers, on a variety of compliance issues. Caitlin is also a member of the Baker's ESG and sustainability taskforce, and advises a range of clients on the drafting and implementation of ESG policies and the implications of becoming a signatory to the UNPRI and the Stewardship Code. Caitlin is an authority on regulatory reforms in the sustainability space and sits on a number of trade association working groups. She has recently been interviewed by Climate Action on her work and is a frequent speaker on the subject.

Author

Karen Man is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services group, leading the non-contentious Financial Services Regulatory practice. Her clients include global, Chinese and local banks, fund managers, brokers/dealers, money service operators and fintech firms. Karen is admitted to practice in Hong Kong, the UK, and Australia.

Author

Renata Campetti Amaral joined the firm in 2002 and became a partner in 2013. As a Senior Partner, she is the Head of the Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability practice group in Brazil. She coordinates the sustainability initiatives conducted by the office. In the environmental and sustainability area, she coordinates several of the biggest cases of contamination and environmental regularization in the country. Renata provides advice on negotiations with authorities; judicial and administrative litigation; review of environmental aspects of financial institutions and operations; drafting and negotiation of environmental provisions in contracts and other commercial operations. She has vast experience in dealing with environmental management, legal audit and other organizational practices; regulatory and institutional analysis and environmental control; negotiation and implementation of environmental remediation plans; environmental licensing; legal aspects of biodiversity protection; environmental crisis management; development of preventive policies and strategies for companies; negotiation and drafting of contracts for the purchase and sale of carbon credits. In matters related to Consumer Law, she conducts analysis of aspects of Consumer Law in contracts and commercial transactions, judicial and administrative litigations; works on the negotiated solution of matters related to Consumer Law; celebration of agreements with competent authorities; analysis, planning and supervision of legal aspects of recalls; marketing strategies and campaigns; aspects of Consumer Law in electronic commerce and in matters related to information technology and on the development of preventive policies and strategies for companies. Trench Rossi Watanabe and Baker McKenzie have executed a strategic cooperation agreement for consulting on foreign law.

Author

Michaël Tiralongo is a member of the Tokyo office's Banking & Finance Practice Group. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, he worked in the financial services regulatory department of a major French law firm and in-house in the asset management arm of a global financial institution. He is fluent in Japanese.

Author

Livia Lupinacci is an Associate in Trench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados Sao Paulo office. *Trench Rossi Watanabe and Baker McKenzie have executed a strategic cooperation agreement for consulting on foreign law.

Author

Olivier Van den broeke is a senior associate in the Financial Services Regulatory & Insurance Practice Group in the Antwerp office. He joined Baker McKenzie in 2013.

Author

Shaneil Shah is an associate in the Financial Services & Regulatory Group in the London office. Shaneil has experience advising fintechs, funds, banks, asset managers and payment institutions on compliance with their regulatory obligations. He also advises on contentious matters, including investigations and enforcement proceedings brought by financial regulators, internal regulatory investigations and financial services disputes. Shaneil recently spent time on secondment to the London branch of a global investment bank and to Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong.

Author

Steffi Illegems is a senior associate in the Financial Services & Insurance Practice Group in the Antwerp office. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2019. Prior to joining the firm, she was a PhD researcher on insurance supervision at the University of Antwerp. She was also a trainee at the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and a visiting scholar at the University of Connecticut.

Author

Gavin Chua is an Associate in Baker McKenzie, Singapore office.

Author

Richard Powell is Lead Knowledge Lawyer for Baker McKenzie's Financial Institutions Industry Group where he is responsible for legal content projects, training and knowledge initiatives. Previously he was a member of the UK Financial Conduct Authority's Enforcement Division where he advised on regulatory cases. He has also been an editor of Bloomberg Law's UK Financial Services Law Journal.

Author

Kimberly Everitt is Baker McKenzie's knowledge lawyer for Financial Services Regulation & Enforcement, covering the EMEA region, and brings over a decade of experience to the team in both knowledge and fee-earning roles. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Kim held roles specializing in contentious financial services regulation knowledge, and her fee-earning roles covered non-contentious regulation in the private equity and general financial services sectors.

Author

Aaron Dauber is a Registered Foreign Lawyer and the Knowledge Lawyer for Baker McKenzie's non-contentious Financial Services Regulatory practice. He is responsible for monitoring and training on regulatory change, legal content projects and other knowledge initiatives to support the firm and our clients. Aaron's experience includes over 13 years' as an in-house counsel responsible for legal support to businesses across the Asia Pacific region including Japan and Australia with a global systemically important bank.

Author

Yuko Watanabe is a member of the Banking & Finance group in the Firm's Tokyo office.

Author

Ann Srikiatkhachorn is a Legal Professional in Baker McKenzie, Bangkok office.

Author

Bhalarp Vallayapet is a Legal Professional in Baker McKenzie, Bangkok office.

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