The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has delayed the release of the sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) for the second time this year.
The UK regulator said the final policy statement is not expected to be published until Q4, having previously been planned for Q3.
The policy statement for SDR was originally scheduled for 30 June 2023, but was pushed back in March due to “significant” number of responses to the consultation. This includes the general anti-greenwashing rule for registered firms.
In a regulatory initiatives grid update, co-chairs Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA, and Sam Woods, deputy governor, prudential regulation at the Bank of England, pointed to the range of comments again as a reason beyond the extension.
They added, “These policy changes will help the UK’s asset management sector thrive by setting standards that improve the sustainability information consumers have access to.”
The long-awaited sustainable finance rules are expected to contain the three fund labels set out in the FCA’s consultation that published in October last year.
These include sustainable focus funds that invest in sustainable assets, sustainable improver funds that invest in assets looking to improve their sustainability over time, and sustainable impact funds that invest in solutions.
James Alexander, CEO of UKSIF, said, “It is deeply disappointing to see yet another delay to the publication of the finalised SDR and fund labelling regulations.
We see these as crucial in the development of the UK’s sustainable finance leadership and building trust for consumers, and essential to give certainly to the industry on future regulatory requirements.”
He added, “this delay is symptomatic of the slow pace of implementation of other policies announced in the Green Finance Strategy in March this year, including corporate disclosure requirements and the Green Taxonomy, which must all be progressed as a matter of urgency.
If the government is serious about making London and the UK as a whole, a global leader in green finance, it needs to deliver, not delay.”
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