Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 7 2026

8 AI CRYPTOASSETS CYBER DORA IOSCO MONEY MARKET FUNDS SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG ASIA PACIFIC AUSTRALIA EUROPE IRELAND LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 7 | 2026 Quick Links The consultation will run for six weeks, until 12 August 2026 , in parallel to the consultations by the other ESAs. ESMA says that it will hold a public hearing to present the proposals and engage with stakeholders on 22 July 2026 . Following the consultation, ESMA says that it will deliver its final technical advice by end-October 2026, as requested by the Commission. Link to Consultation here Council Agrees Position on Simpler Transparency Rules for Sustainable Financial Products On 24 June 2026, the Council of the EU (Council) announced that it had agreed its negotiating position on an updated sustainability transparency framework for financial products sold in the EU. The Council states that the objective is to ease administrative burdens and help investors better understand and compare sustainability-related financial products. In its press release, the Council explains that the review updates the already existing Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) which requires market participants to disclose how they integrate social, environmental and governance (ESG) sustainability risks and adverse impacts into their investment offers. The Council goes on to say that the reviewwill improve the current rules by introducing three new categories of financial products, as well as the criteria that should be used to define them. These are: • Sustainable : products that contribute to sustainability goals, such as investments in companies or projects already meeting high standards; • Transition : products channelling investments towards companies or projects that while not yet sustainable are on a credible path; and • ESG basics : other products that may integrate ESG approaches but do not meet the criteria of sustainable or transition categories. The Council says that these categories would replace existing concepts in the framework which have been shown to lead to ‘greenwashing’. At the same time, the Council states that the proposed disclosure structure would help financial market participants to drastically cut down on their administrative burden. The negotiating position approved by the Council represents its mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament (Parliament) on the updated SFDR, once the Parliament has agreed on its respective position. Link to Council Press Release here Link to SFDR Council Mandate (Legal Text) here FCA Publishes Regulatory Sandbox: Climate Scenarios Cohort On 23 June 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that in the autumn it will open a Sandbox cohort for testing innovative climate scenario tools or approaches. The FCA says that the planned climate scenarios cohort will be part of the Regulatory Sandbox and that it will be inviting firms and specialists to test innovative approaches, whether quantitative or narrative based. The FCA also says that this cohort is aligned with its regulatory approach, which aims to ensure that market participants manage the risks of moving to a more sustainable economy, as well as the risks from a changing climate. The FCA adds that it will update its dedicated webpage as planning progresses. Link to FCAWebpage here