Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 1 2024

Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 1 | 2024 12 QUICK LINKS BENCHMARKS REGULATION CSDR CYBERSECURITY DEFI DIGITALISATION DORA ELTIF FSB FUND LIQUIDITY MONEYMARKET FUNDS OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG ASIA EUROPE IRELAND NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM EIOPA Consults on Prudential Treatment of Sustainability Risks On 13 December 2023, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched a consultation on the prudential treatment of sustainability risks. It is described that this consultation is the second phase in EIOPA’s step-by-step approach concerning the expected mandate under the Solvency II Directive, which requires EIOPA to assess whether a dedicated prudential treatment of assets or activities associated substantially with environmental or social objectives, or harm to such objectives, would be justified. Comments are due by 22 March 2024. Link to Consultation Document here EIOPA Consults on Draft Opinion on Sustainability Claims and Greenwashing On 12 December 2023, the EIOPA launched a public consultation on its draft opinion on sustainability claims and greenwashing. The draft opinion sets out four principles that should be observed when providers make sustainability claims (with EIOPA compiling good and bad practices in respect of each principle): • Principle 1: Sustainability claims made by a provider should be accurate, precise, and consistent with the provider’s overall profile and business model, or the profile of its products; • Principle 2: Sustainability claims should be kept up to date, and any changes should be disclosed in a timely manner and with a clear rationale; • Principle 3: Sustainability claims should be substantiated with clear reasoning and facts; and • Principle 4: Sustainability claims and their substantiation should be accessible by the targeted stakeholders. EIOPA is proposing that national competent authorities (NCAs) monitor providers’ adherence to the above principles, evaluate their sustainability claims, ensure compliance with the relevant regulatory requirements and closely examine sustainability-related terms in product names. The deadline for submission of comments is on 12 March 2024. Link to Public Consultation here MAS Publishes Code of Conduct for Providers of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Rating and Data Products On 6 December 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published its finalised Code of Conduct for ESG Rating and Data Product Providers (CoC) and an accompanying Checklist for providers to self-attest their compliance to the CoC (Checklist), following a public consultation conducted from June to August 2023. The CoC is described as aiming to establish baseline industry standards for transparency in methodologies and data sources, governance, and management of conflicts of interest that may compromise the reliability and independence of the products. The CoC is also described as building upon the International Organisation of Securities Commissions’ (“IOSCO”) recommendations for good practices for such providers. The MAS media release describes that respondents to the consultation have expressed strong support for the CoC. The media release also describes that users agreed that providers’ self- attestation on the Checklist should, where feasible, undergo third party assurance or audit. The media release sees the MAS encourage providers to disclose their adoption of the CoC and publish their completed Checklist within 12 months from publication of the CoC. To enable users to easily identify providers which have publicly adopted the CoC, MAS has worked with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) to host a list of such providers on ICMA’s website. MAS states it will continue to monitor developments in the industry and the global regulatory landscape when considering any further enhancements to the regulatory regime for such providers. Link to Media Release here