Japanese financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has appointed a “specialized subcommittee on ESG evaluation and data providers.”
The subcommittee was formed to formalize discussions with ESG rating and data providers on concerning issues relating to data reliability and quality.
The committee is chaired by academic Tetsuo Kitagawa – an active member of sustainability body International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) – and includes representatives from Nomura, Manulife, Sumitomo Mitsui, Nissay AM, Sustainalytics and MSCI.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment, which have played key roles in the country’s sustainable finance policy and have been named observers.
The FSA has previously said that it plans to develop a ‘code of conduct’ for ESG data providers which will encompass governance, transparency and comparability.
JPX has also been promoting sustainability initiatives on several fronts in Japan. It formulated Japan’s Corporate Governance Code, offers ESG-related indices and ETFs, and launched an infrastructure fund market.
