The Sexism in the City report highlights key issues affecting women in financial services and sets out a number of recommendations to address them. By Nell Perks, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins On 8 March 2024, the House of Commons Treasury Committee published its report from the Sexism in the City inquiry, which sought to explore progress in four key areas affecting women in financial services since the Committee’s Women in Finance report was published in 2018. Overall, the report finds that “not much” has changed in the past five years, with many of the barriers identified in 2018 remai ..read more

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have made some significant changes to the European Commission’s proposal. On 5 February 2024, the European Parliament and Council of the EU announced that they had reached a provisional political agreement on the text of the ESG Ratings Regulation (the Regulation). The agreed text was subsequently published on 14 February 2024. The Regulation was initially proposed by the Commission in June 2023, and seeks to introduce a new regulatory regime for ESG ratings providers “operating in the Union”. Refer to this Latham blog post for previous commen ..read more

Benchmark administrators should review the quality of their ESG benchmark disclosures ahead of a review by EU regulators during 2024. By Nicola Higgs, Becky Critchley, Anne Mainwaring, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins On 13 December 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, announced its plans to launch a Common Supervisory Action (CSA). Along with National Competent Authorities (NCAs), ESMA plans to review the mandatory disclosures of benchmark administrators providing benchmarks that pursue ESG objectives under th ..read more

As the pace of reform increases, we take a look at key developments and the timeline ahead. Significant progress has been made on the Edinburgh Reforms since they were announced in December 2022, with developments gathering pace before the summer break. Given the breadth and speed of the reforms, now is a good time to take stock of where things stand and what we can expect in the months ahead. In this publication, we highlight some of the key developments and set out expected dates for future progress. Read the full report ..read more

This annual publication explores some of the core focus areas for UK-regulated financial services firms in the year ahead. 2023 saw significant progress on the regulatory reform agenda, and many measures consulted on or reviewed as part of the Edinburgh Reforms will be finalised and/or implemented in the course of 2024. We also saw the passing of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, many provisions of which have already come into effect and have made important changes to the UK regulatory architecture. 2024 will see more progress on the reform agenda, and the regulators are likely to ..read more

The FCA’s long-awaited regime seeks to raise standards, increase consumer understanding, and reduce instances of greenwashing. By Paul A. Davies, Laura N. Ferrell, Sarah E. Fortt, Nicola Higgs, Betty M. Huber, James McCrory, Nell Perks, Michael D. Green, Clare Scott, James Bee, Anne Mainwaring, Jaime Martin, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins On 28 November 2023, the FCA published its Policy Statement (PS23/16) containing final rules on its Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labelling regime. The FCA originally consulted on this regime in October 2022 (see this Latham ..read more

The FCA has set out good and poor practices for asset managers to consider in relation to funds with ESG or sustainable characteristics. By Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, and Charlotte Collins On 16 November 2023, the FCA published the findings from its review of how asset managers have been embedding current regulatory expectations regarding the design, delivery, and disclosure of funds marketed as having ESG or sustainable characteristics. With the FCA yet to finalise its Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labelling regime, it reviewed authorised fund managers’ (AFM ..read more

Guidance for the largest US financial institutions is intended to promote climate risk management consistent with general safety and soundness practices. By Sarah E. Fortt, Betty M. Huber, Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, Karmpreet (Preeti) Grewal, Austin J. Pierce, and Deric Behar On October 30, 2023, the three US federal bank regulatory agencies — the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the Agencies) — jointly finalized Principles for Climate-Related Financia ..read more

The FCA and the PRA have published their long-awaited consultations which aim to formalise how firms approach diversity and inclusion. By Sarah E. Fortt, Sarah Gadd, Nicola Higgs, Andrea Monks, Rob Moulton, Nell Perks, Becky Critchley, Charlie Bowden, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins On 25 September 2023, the FCA and the PRA published separate but related consultation papers on D&I in financial services (FCA CP23/20 and PRA CP18/23). The regulators published a joint Discussion Paper in July 2021 on how they might accelerate the pace of meaningful change in relation to D&I and miscon ..read more

The EU regulators are reviewing the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation introduced in 2021, exploring the need for potential additional adjustments. By Paul A. Davies, Nicola Higgs, Michael D. Green, James Bee, and Anne Mainwaring On 14 September 2023, the European Commission initiated a consultation on its sustainable financial disclosure practices, seeking feedback on Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 — the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The consultation surveys stakeholders’ experiences during the implementation of the SFDR and, in particular, solicits feedback on its inte ..read more