French Financial Regulator Calls For Review Of SFDR Minimum Standards

On February 13, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the French financial regulator, proposed the introduction of legislation to establish "minimum environmental requirements" that must be met in order for financial products to be classified as Article 8 or Article 9 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The AMF explains that since the SFDR "does not impose minimum requirements and does not define the concept of sustainable investment . . . the current Article 8 and Article 9 classification does not aim to assess the nature or extent of the manager's commitment to sustainability."

As defined in the SFDR, Article 8 funds are those that promote Environmental or Social characteristics but do not have them as the overarching objective. Article 9 funds are those that have specific sustainable goals as their objective.