The UK’s financial regulator has published its long-awaited proposals to tackle inadequate climate change disclosures by firms. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) proposals follow feedback from stakeholders to its October 2018 discussion paper on climate change and green finance. Its proposals include consulting on new rules to improve climate-related disclosures by certain firms and clarifying […]
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Environmental groups take aim at US corporates Eleven of the world’s leading environmental groups have written an impassioned open letter imploring America’s big corporates to step up their climate change efforts. The letter, published in the New York Times, urged CEOs of US corporations to adopt science-based climate policies to help achieve net-zero emissions by […]
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Investors turn up the heat on US climate laggards 200 of the world’s leading investors have written to major US corporations urging them to align their climate lobbying with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The joint letters, sent on behalf of the Investor Expectations on Corporate Climate Lobbying group, which includes BNP Paribas Asset […]
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Environmental factors top list of investor priorities Environmental and corporate governance issues topped the list of biggest priorities for the UK’s largest investors – but stewardship engagement remains an area of concern, a report reveals. EY’s inaugural report into investor stewardship and engagement found that while investors and asset managers were most focused on environment […]
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UK behind in efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals The government’s Voluntary National Review, which outlines its progress towards the SDGs, showed it only received a satisfactory rating in one of the 11 areas on which it was assessed. The UK government has been warned to step up efforts to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development […]
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SEC’s Clayton attacks lack of global commitment to combatting corruption The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a blistering attack on his foreign counterparts for failing to tackle offshore corruption. During his speech at the Economic Club of New York on Monday (9 September), Jay Clayton warned there was a […]
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FRC promises corporate governance and reporting crackdown The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is to expand its monitoring of corporate governance and reporting standards as it considers the effectiveness of its new governance code. In its annual report for the year ending 31 March 2019, the FRC said it will continue to tackle poor-quality audit work, […]
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Big Four fail in one in five audits The world’s four biggest accounting firms have been exposed for botching at least 20% of their audits following an inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). In the most recent annual inspections of the Big Four, inspectors discovered Deloitte botched 20% of audits examined, PricewaterhouseCoopers […]
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South Korean watchdog stimulates investor activism South Korea is set to relax its shareholder reporting rules to allow for greater investor activism. The country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) is to amend the ‘5% rule’ which will no longer require institutional investors to file reports when they wish to respond to a company’s unlawful activities, improve […]
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Major UK pensions sign up to cost disclosure initiative Ten of the UK’s biggest pension schemes have written a joint letter publicly announcing their commitment to the Cost Transparency Initiative. Launched in November 2018, the Initiative encourages asset managers to report their costs and charges in a standardised format to help institutional investors access and […]
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