Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 8 2024

14 QUICK LINKS AIFMD CBDC CRYPTOASSETS CSDR FINTECH FSB FUND LIQUIDITY MAR MIFID II/MIFIR OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE REMUNERATION SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ ESG UCITS ASIA PACIFIC EUROPE IRELAND NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 8 | 2024 ESMA Puts Forward Measures to Support Corporate Sustainability Reporting On 5 July 2024, the European Securities andMarkets Authority (ESMA) published a Final Report on the Guidelines on Enforcement of Sustainability Information (GLESI) and a Public Statement on the first application of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These documents are stated to support the consistent application and supervision of sustainability reporting requirements. ESMA states that the purpose of the GLESI is to provide guidance to build convergence on supervisory practices on sustainability reporting. Through the Public Statement on the first-time application of the ESRS, ESMA intends to support large issuers in going through the learning curve associated with the implementation of these new reporting requirements. ESMA states that the guidelines and statement are in line with recommendations proposed in the recently published ESMA Position Paper “Building more effective and attractive capital markets in the EU” namely: • Promoting EU capital markets as a hub for green finance – this should include efforts to clarify the disclosure of sustainability information to aid comprehension by investors, also through the use of sustainability labels/categories as necessary; reducing complexity and enhancing clarity for the industry can also serve to ease compliance burdens; and • Improving supervisory consistency amongst EU National Authorities – fostering harmonised enforcement outcomes through enhanced cooperation and convergence Next steps ESMA says it will continue to monitor the sustainability reporting practices in 2025 which will include the GLESI’s application, and will also translate the GLESI in all EU languages and make these translations available on its website. In addition, ESMA says it will release in Q4 recommendations in relation to the sustainability statements of listed companies in its Public Statement on the 2024 European Common Enforcement Priorities. Link to Final Report here Link to Public Statement here Link to Explainer Video here Link to Visuals here MAS Publishes Sustainability Report 2023/2024 On 4 July 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published the Sustainability Report 2023/2024, which sets out MAS’ strategy on climate resilience and environmental sustainability to strengthen the resilience of the financial sector to environmental risks, develop a vibrant sustainable finance ecosystem, build a climate-resilient investment portfolio, and incorporate sustainable practices within MAS. Amongst other things, MAS notes the following key initiatives in 2023/2024: • Climate-Resilient Financial Sector: Issued a set of consultation papers proposing Guidelines on Transition Planning by asset managers, , insurers, and banks. • Data, Definitions & Disclosures: Published the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy; and the Singapore Code of Conduct for ESG Rating and Data Product Providers (the “Code”), with an accompanying checklist for providers to self-attest their adoption of the Code. • Green & Transition Solutions and Markets: Launched the Transition Credits Coalition (TRACTION) to scale transition credits and launched Financing Asia’s Transition – Partnership (FAST-P), a blended finance initiative that aims to mobilise up to US$5 billion to de-risk and finance transition and marginally bankable green projects in Asia. • Green FinTech: Launched Gprnt (pronounced “Greenprint”), an integrated digital platform that automates and streamlines the collection of ESG data to enable basic climate-related reporting by businesses in a simple and efficient manner. • Skills andCapabilities: Launched the Sustainable Finance Jobs TransformationMap (SF JTM), which lays out the impact of sustainability trends on jobs in Singapore’s financial services sector and the emerging skills that the workforce will require to serve sustainable financing demand in the region. Link to MASWebsite here