Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 6 2024

12 QUICK LINKS AIFMD CMU CRYPTOASSETS EMIR FINTECH IFD/IFR MAR MIFID II/MIFIR OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE SECURITISATION SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG UCITS ASIA EUROPE UNITED STATES UNITEDKINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 6 | 2024 In cases of a combination of terms, use of transition, sustainability- and impact-related terms, and for funds designating an index as a reference benchmark, further criteria are specified in the Guidelines. The Final Report containing the guidelines also provides a summary of the responses ESMA received to its consultation paper and an explanation of the approach taken to address the comments received. These guidelines apply three months after the date of the publication of the guidelines on ESMA’s website in all EU official languages. Managers of any new funds created after the date of application of the guidelines, should apply these guidelines immediately in respect of those funds. Managers of funds existing before the date of application of these guidelines should apply these guidelines in respect of those funds after six months from the application date of the Guidelines. Within two months of the date of publication in all EU official languages, competent authorities to which these guidelines apply must notify ESMA whether they (i) comply, (ii) do not comply, but intend to comply, or (iii) do not comply and do not intend to comply with the guidelines. Link to Final Report here Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance On 3 May 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (Hong Kong Taxonomy) which is stated to enable informed decision making on green and sustainable finance and facilitate relevant finance flows. The HKMA has been developing a green classification framework for adoption in the local market and a discussion paper was released in May 2023 to gather feedback from stakeholders on a prototype of the framework. Based on the feedback, the prototype was fine-tuned and published as the Hong Kong Taxonomy. Currently, the Hong Kong Taxonomy encompasses 12 economic activities under four sectors (power generation, transportation, construction, and water and waste management). As steered by the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group, the Hong Kong Taxonomy’s development has been stated to have been guided by the principles of interoperability, comparability and inclusiveness and is also stated to facilitate easy navigation among the Common Ground Taxonomy, China’s Green Bond Endorsed Projects Catalogue and the European Union’s Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities. The Hong Kong Taxonomy is also stated to serve as a pivotal tool to raise awareness about green finance, promote common understanding on green activities, facilitate green finance flows, and provide a foundation for further applications. The HKMA outlines that it encourages the financial sector to use the Hong Kong Taxonomy to assess the greenness of projects and assets when labelling and developing products, as well as making disclosures. Alongside the publication of the Hong Kong Taxonomy, a consultation report was also published (to summarise the feedback received, together with responses and recommendations on future work) as well as a supplemental guidance document (to provide background information, illustrative use cases, and responses to frequently asked questions). Going forward the HKMA states that it will seek to expand the coverage of the Hong Kong Taxonomy to include more sectors and activities, including transition activities. The HKMA says it will also continue the collaboration with relevant stakeholders to promote its application and enhancement, contributing to the sustainable development in Hong Kong and the world. The consultation report, Hong Kong Taxonomy and supplemental guidance are available on the HKMA website. Link to Circular here Link to HMKA inSight Article here