Memo #
33684

Notice of Meeting to Discuss IOSCO Consultation on Sustainability for Asset Managers: July 20, 2021
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[33684]

July 12, 2021

TO: ESG Task Force
EU ESG Disclosure Regulation Working Group RE: Notice of Meeting to Discuss IOSCO Consultation on Sustainability for Asset Managers: July 20, 2021

 

On 20 July at 16:00 BST/11:00 a.m. EDT, we will host a call to discuss IOSCO's Consultation on Sustainability-Related Regulatory and Supervisory Expectations for Asset Managers.[1] Please register for this meeting at https://cvent.me/8wgg5R.

The consultation closes on 15 August 2021.

Below is a brief description of the Consultation Report from the IOSCO's press release:

The Consultation Report focuses on investor protection issues and proposes that securities regulators consider setting regulatory and supervisory expectations for asset managers regarding sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

The recommendations cover five areas:

  • asset manager practices, policies, procedures, and disclosure;
  • product disclosure;
  • supervision and enforcement;
  • terminology; and
  • financial and investor education.

The recommendations aim to address various challenges, such as existing gaps in skills and expertise and the risk of fragmentation caused by divergent regulatory approaches. These challenges may further contribute to a lack of comparability for sustainability-related products, creating difficulties for investors' monitoring and decision-making, and therefore facilitating greenwashing.

The Consultation Report outlines the types of greenwashing at the asset manager and product levels, describes the different regulatory approaches taken by securities regulators to address sustainability-related risks and opportunities, and provides an overview of the financial and investor education initiatives conducted by regulators.

The Consultation Report discusses asset managers' sustainability-related practices and firm level disclosures, which are broadly categorized into the following areas, consistent with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures Recommendations (TCFD Recommendations): governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.

The Consultation Report also highlights a clear need to address the challenges associated with the lack of reliability and comparability of data at the corporate level and the ESG data and ratings provided by third-party providers. The recently published Report on Sustainability-related Issuer Disclosures[2]  addresses data gaps at the corporate level, while a separate IOSCO report, to be published in July, will cover the proliferation of data and ESG ratings providers.

We will circulate a more detailed memo on the consultation closer to the call. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with your comments and questions (Elizabeth.Lance@ici.org).

To Register for the Meeting on Tuesday, 20 July at 16:00 BST/11:00 a.m. EDT:

Please visit our registration site at https://cvent.me/8wgg5R. Committee members are encouraged to log into the meeting using the Zoom application. If you do not have the ability to participate via the Zoom application, provide the telephone number you will be calling from in your registration.

Log in details will be sent to registered attendees only by Cvent with your Zoom login information. More than one person from each firm is welcome to participate, however, please have each person register individually. That will allow us to keep track of attendance.

At the end of your registration, on the confirmation page, please click the "Add to Calendar" button. You will receive an email reminder with your unique login link one day in advance of the meeting. You will receive a second reminder one hour before the start of the meeting. If you have questions regarding registration, please contact Jean Zadeh at jean.zadeh@ici.org.

 

Elizabeth Lance
Assistant Chief Counsel
ICI Global

 

endnotes

[1] The Consultation Report is available at https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD679.pdf.

[2] This report is available at https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD678.pdf