Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 8 2023

Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 8 | 2023 11 QUICK LINKS ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CBDC COSTS & CHARGES CRYPTOASSETS CULTURE & CONDUCT CYBERSECURITY EMIR FINTECH FSB FUND LIQUIDITY MIFID II/MIFIR SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ ESG AUSTRALIA ASIA IRELAND NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM border activities. ESMA and the NCAs observe a continued increase in cross-border activities provided to retail clients by investment firms across the EU. This benefits consumers and investment firms, as it fosters competition, and increases the investment options available to retail investors. Cross-border activities also require NCAs to increase their supervisory focus and cooperation efforts as there is a risk of undermining investors’ trust which, in the long term, has the potential to hamper the development of the single market. Link to Report here SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG European Commission Adopts European Sustainability Reporting Standards On 31 July 2023, the European Commission announced that it had adopted the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for use by all companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The European Commission also published: Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing EU Accounting Directive as regards sustainability reporting standards. • Annex 1 to the Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing EU Accounting Directive as regards sustainability reporting standards. • Annex 2 to the Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing EU Accounting Directive as regards sustainability reporting standards. – (All three of which are not in force until being published in the Official Journal). • Q&As on the adoption of the ESRS. The Delegated Regulation adopted by the European Commission will be formally transmitted in the second half of August 2023 to the European Parliament and to the European Council for scrutiny. The scrutiny period runs for two months, extendable by a further two months. The European Parliament or the Council may reject the delegated act, but they may not amend it. Link to Press Release here Link to Delegated Regulation supplementing the EU Accounting Directive here Link to Annex 1 here Link to Annex 2 here Link to ESRS Q&As here SEC Remarks Before the Financial Stability Oversight Council: Climate Risk Disclosure In Chair Gary Gensler’s comments, given on 28 July 2023, he said that the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has no role as to climate risk itself but does have an important role in helping to ensure that public companies make full, fair, and truthful disclosure about the material risks they face. Chair Gensler acknowledged that issuers are already making climate risk disclosures, and investors are making investment decisions based on those disclosures. He went on to say that a majority of the top thousand issuers by market cap already make such disclosures, including what’s known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse emissions. Further, investors representing tens of trillions of dollars in assets are making decisions relying on those disclosures. So, in fulfilling the SEC’s role, Chair Gensler describes how the SEC has put out for comment a proposal about climate-related disclosure to bring consistency and comparability to such disclosures. The SEC is considering the more than 15,000 comments it has received on the proposal and will consider adjustments to the proposed rule that the SEC staff, and ultimately the SEC, think are appropriate in light of those comments. Link to Comments here