Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 6 2023

Bite-Sized | 2023 Issue 6 12 QUICK LINKS AIFMD ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CMU — RETAIL INVESTMENT PACKAGE CBDC COSTS & CHARGES CRYPTOASSETS ELTIF IFD/IFR LIBOR TRANSITION MIFID II/MIFIR MONEY MARKET FUNDS OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG WHISTLEBLOWING AUSTRALIA EUROPE LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, ASIC intervention resulted in: • 23 corrective disclosure outcomes; • 11 infringement notices issued; and • In one case, the commencement of civil penalty proceedings . The report also provides timely transparency to the market on the nature of the matters where ASIC has intervened, with reference to: • Net zero statements and targets; • Use of terms such as ‘carbon neutral’, ‘clean’ or ‘green’; • Fund labels; and • Scope and application of investment exclusions and screens. When preparing disclosures, ASIC encourages issuers and advisers to consider this report, alongside, Information Sheet 271 How to avoid greenwashing when offering or promoting sustainability-related products (INFO 271). Link to Press Release here ESMA Speech on Transition to a Low Carbon Economy On 5 May 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a speech delivered by Natasha Cazenave, Executive Director, on the transition to a low carbon economy. In her speech, Ms Cazenave explains the work that ESMA has done to achieve its priority of promoting transparency and tackling greenwashing. The key points included that: • Ms Cazenave believes that enhanced corporate sustainability reporting is the cornerstone of the sustainable finance framework and ESMA is expected to provide much awaited data to be used across the whole sustainable investment value chain. • ESMA is aware that despite all the work that has been done until now to improve the disclosure framework for financial entities and investment products, the framework remains complex and difficult to navigate for investors. Ms Cazenave explains that there could be merit in exploring whether labels could help better channel savings according to investors’ needs and preferences and therefore support an orderly transition; and • Until there can be further clarity on potential changes to the SFDR or the introduction of labels, ESMA believes that some criteria should be required when naming funds that claim to have sustainability characteristics or goals. In the speech, Ms Cazenave concluded by saying that ESMA’s ultimate objective is to support the channelling of the necessary capital flows to meet the EU’s decarbonization targets as well as its environmental and social objectives. She confirmed that ESMA stands ready to contribute to further legislative changes and respond to new market developments. Link to Full Speech here WHISTLEBLOWING FCA Sets Out Steps to Improve Whistleblower Confidence On 4 May 2023 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set out actions to improve the confidence of whistleblowers — including sharing further information with whistleblowers on how it acted on their information; improving the use of information provided by whistleblowers; and improving how it captures information from whistleblowers. This follows a qualitative survey of whistleblowers who had provided information to the FCA, to understand their experience and identify areas for improvement.