ISDA Responds to HMT Consultation on ESG Ratings Providers

On June 30, ISDA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) submitted a joint response to His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) consultation on the future regulatory regime for environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings providers. The associations support the introduction of regulation for ESG ratings providers – in particular, the need for greater transparency in methodologies, sufficient resources and expertise within providers, stronger governance and addressing conflicts of interest. The associations welcome the indication from the UK Financial Conduct Authority that its regulatory approach would take the main elements of the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ recommendations as a staring point for the rules.

The response also highlights areas of challenge, as well as overlaps that may arise in connection with the proposal to include ESG ratings providers within the regulated activities order. This includes potential overlaps with existing regulated activities, application of exclusions and exemptions, and transitional provisions. The associations make recommendations on the definition of ESG ratings, cross-border access and how the government should approach ESG data providers.

Documents (1) for ISDA Responds to HMT Consultation on ESG Ratings Providers

Joint Response to EBA Consultation

On August 12, ISDA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) responded to the European Banking Authority’s discussion paper on certain taxonomy key performance indicators (KPIs) and other aspects of the Disclosures Delegated Act  under Article 8 of...

Response to JSCC on Clearing Fund Consolidation

On August 12, ISDA responded to the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation’s (JSCC) consultation on its proposal to consolidate clearing fund consumption, calculation and deposit segmentation across six clearing qualifications under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. ISDA members broadly support...

Response on CSDD Guidelines

On August 6, ISDA responded to the European Commission’s (EC) consultation on due diligence guidelines under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). While ISDA acknowledges that model contractual clauses can be a helpful resource for in-scope companies, there are...