ESG | Global Investment Law Watch

Australia: ASIC Releases Report on Recent Greenwashing Actions

May 16 2023

By Matthew Watts and Rebecca Mangos

The Australia Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has published a report on its regulatory interventions made between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2023 in relation to greenwashing concerns (which can be accessed here). The report covers ASIC’s issuance of greenwashing infringement notices during the period and its observed increase in representations made by listed companies, managed funds and superannuation funds on environmental, social and governance credentials.

Europe: Proposed German Legislation Will Support Investments in Renewable Energy Facilities

Apr 14 2023

By Hilger von Livonius

On 12 April 2023, the German Ministry of Justice (Bundesministerium der Justiz) published a legislative proposal which would broaden the eligible assets for German open-ended real estate funds to include certain renewable energy assets. The proposal mentions both facilities for the generation, transport and storage of electricity, gas or heat from renewable energy sources, and charging stations for electric vehicles and bikes. The proposed rules would, for the first time, allow investment in facilities which are on open land and not directly connected with a building held by the fund. The new rules may also have an impact on non-German real estate funds available to certain German investors. For example, German pension schemes may require that non-German real estate funds share certain features with similar German funds.

Europe: UK Government Proposes To Regulate ESG Ratings Providers

Apr 11 2023

By Philip Morgan and Zainab Kuku

Responding to encouragement from both the FCA and IOSCO, HM Treasury has proposed regulating ESG ratings providers in a consultation paper dated 30 March 2023. It primarily aims to improve the transparency of the methodologies and governance objectives adopted by ESG ratings providers, as well as to mitigate risks arising from conflicts of interest where the rating provider also provides other services to the rated entity.

EUROPE: UK’s FCA Issues Stern Warning to ESG Benchmark Administrators for Lack of Rigour

Mar 31 2023

By Zainab Kuku

The FCA did not hold back in its most recent comments to ESG benchmark administrators, in an indication of its increasingly adversarial approach to ‘greenwashing’. It described the quality of disclosures of ESG factors considered in benchmark methodologies as ‘poor’, and aimed clear warning shots at administrators who fail to comply with the FCA’s feedback.

AUSTRALIA: Greenwashing crackdown – ASIC sues superannuation giant in landmark case

Mar 08 2023

By Matthew Watts, Rebecca Mangos and Bernard Sia

For the first time, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched court action against a major superannuation trustee for allegedly making misleading statements about the sustainable nature and characteristics of some of its investment products (known as “greenwashing”). ASIC claims the corporate pension fund misled consumers by investing in companies involved with the alcohol, gambling and fossil fuel sectors, contrary to the fund’s marketed sustainable and ethical credentials.

Category: ESG