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ARTICLE · 26 JULY 2022

ESG Data And Ratings Providers To Come Within Regulatory Perimeter

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A key outcome of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority's ("FCA") ESG strategy is the promotion of integrity within the ESG-labelled securities market, supported by the growth of effective...

United KingdomFinance and Banking
David Rundle
David Rundle
Stephen Pollard
Stephen Pollard
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A key outcome of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority's ("FCA") ESG strategy is the promotion of integrity within the ESG-labelled securities market, supported by the growth of effective service providers. To that end, in June 2021 it released a Consultation Paper, which considered various topics relating to ESG in capital markets. Two of the matters about which the FCA asked for market feedback were: 1) ESG data and rating providers; and 2) issues related to green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked debt instruments. In November 2021, the Regulator published its  ESG Strategy, emphasizing that market participants and consumers "must be able to trust green and other ESG-labelled financial instruments and products." On 29 June, having gathered industry and stakeholders views in response to the Consultation Paper, the FCA published its Feedback Statement on the above two issues, setting out potential future regulatory actions. This post considers the FCA's

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