Europe – Page 4 – Global Investment Law Watch

Europe: Agreement on EU ESG Ratings Regulation

Feb 08 2024

By: Hilger von Livonius and Philipp Riedl

On 5 February 2024, the EU Council and the EU Parliament agreed on a provisional text for the ESG Ratings Regulation (the Regulation).

Under the Regulation, in-scope EU providers of ESG ratings will require a licence from, and be supervised by, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

In-scope ESG ratings will provide an opinion on a company’s or a financial instrument’s sustainability profile, by assessing its exposure to sustainability risk and its impact on society and the environment.

Europe: BaFin Clarifies the German Approach to the ELTIF 2.0 Regime

Feb 05 2024

By: Hilger von Livonius and Philipp Riedl

As anticipated in our earlier blog on ELTIF 2.0, Regulation (EU) 2023/606 amending the Regulation on European long-term investment funds (ELTIF Regulation) has been in force since 10 January 2024. There is a lot of hope in the German market that the revised ELTIF regime will finally help this product to achieve a breakthrough.

Europe: UK’s Overseas Funds Regime Moves a Step Closer with Confirmation that Most EEA UCITS Will Be Deemed Equivalent

Feb 02 2024

By: Shane Geraghty, Aoife Maguire, Andrew Massey, Philip Morgan, and Courtney Hunter

The UK’s overseas funds regime has been in development for several years and is finally close to becoming a reality. It will create a more streamlined method by which non-UK funds given “equivalence” status may be marketed to UK retail investors.

Europe: Responsibility of UCITS Management Companies and AIFMs for producing PRIIPs key information documents confirmed

Jan 16 2024

By: Áine Ní Riain and Lucy Deane

Under the EU PRIIPs Regulation “manufacturers” are required to prepare a key information document (KID) where relevant packaged retail investment products (including most funds) are made available to retail investors.

Europe: ESMA Publishes Long-Awaited Final Report on ELTIF 2.0 Regulatory Technical Standards

Dec 20 2023

By: Gayle Bowen and Shane Geraghty

On 19 December, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report setting out draft Regulatory Technical Standards under the amended European Long-Term Investment Funds Regulation.

Europe: Final SDR rules published by FCA – Time to label your funds (maybe)

Dec 01 2023

The FCA has published its final rules on the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime. The key features include:

Europe: New Screening Criteria for the EU Taxonomy’s Environmental Objectives

Nov 27 2023

By: Áine Ní Riain and Gayle Bowen

Following their adoption and publication in draft form by the European Commission last June, two new EU Taxonomy delegated acts were published in the Official Journal on 21 November, and will apply from January 2024. They confirm new and amended technical screening criteria (TSCs) in relation to the environmental objectives in the Taxonomy Regulation. This is a significant build-out in the application of the Taxonomy Regulation given that for an economic activity to be taxonomy-aligned, it must:

Europe: Significant Expansion to Corporate Criminal Liability in the United Kingdom

Nov 21 2023

By: Dylan Moses, Michael Ruck, Rosie Naylor and Joseph Skilton

Under the new UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, organisations that are bodies corporate or partnerships will become criminally liable for the economic crimes of their senior managers. They will also have a new liability (albeit subject to an important defence) for failure to prevent their employees and associates from committing fraud.

Global: ESG Labelling On the Cards for Global Regulation

Nov 15 2023

By: Jim Bulling and Laura McFadzean

On 2 November 2023, the Australian Treasury announced a proposal to develop a labelling system for investment products marketed as sustainable in its Sustainable Finance Strategy Consultation Paper.

Europe: Central Bank of Ireland Opens ELTIFs Consultation

Nov 01 2023

By: Gayle Bowen and Shane Geraghty

On 1 November 2023, the Central Bank of Ireland, published its European Long Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) consultation paper (the “CP”) which is now open for industry feedback for an expedited six week period until 13 December 2023. The CP relates to the proposed standalone ELTIF chapter set to be introduced into the Central Bank’s Alternative Investment Fund Rulebook, which will facilitate ELTIFs becoming a standalone regulated product in Ireland as discussed in our previous blog here.

Tag:Europe