Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

FCA Anti-greenwashing Rule and UK SDR: Soft-law Shortcomings, Public-sector Conflicts and Multinational Supply-chain Risks, with Proposals for Independent Verification and Director Accountability

Published on: 11 April 2024

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

This marks the first stage of the regulator’s climate‑related financial disclosure regime to be enforced, covering all FCA‑authorised firms, with rules on the labelling and marketing of investment products arriving later this year from July (see FCA, PS23/16: Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels, 28 November 2023). The regime extends to regulated activities undertaken by private enterprises, listed companies and public sector bodies alike. These measures are intended to ensure that statements made by regulated entities about the sustainability credentials of supposedly green products and services are fair, clear, not misleading, and consistent with the sustainability profile of the product or service. Yet are the new rules sufficient to resolve the problem of misleading information about a company’s green credentials and its products and services? Are these anti‑greenwashing provisions anything more than a greenwashing exercise themselves? They play well in public relations, signalling that government agencies are acting to shape corporate behaviour on climate change. The problem is that, when examined more closely, they are still likely to deliver very limited impact.

The need for rules around ESG-related investments

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