The whys, whats and hows on the EU Taxonomy and Disclosures & duties regulation

Swesif has the pleasure to invite to a seminar on the upcoming EU regulations related to sustainable investments. The aim of the seminar is to start shifting focus from policy and regulatory frameworks, towards actual implementation within the investment community, without losing sight of the overall objective – a sustainable investment market.

Committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and climate goals, the EU and its Member States have endorsed a direction for sustainable growth. In order to provide a legislative framework for this, the European Commission in March 2018 released an action plan with ten reforms for financing sustainable growth and in May the same year four legislative proposals were put forward, two of which are “Taxonomy” and “Disclosure and duties”.

This seminar will present the current status and way forward for these two important pieces of regulation. During the seminar we will also learn more about how the regulation will be implemented in practice and what potential challenges this means.

The “Taxonomy” is a proposal for a unified classification system on what can be considered environmentally sustainable economic activities. As such it will set a standard for sustainable investments and help preventing green washing. It will thus have a fundamental impact on asset managers and investment vehicles pertaining to be sustainable and also to asset owners wanting to make sustainable investments. The Taxonomy will now enter into a so called Trilogue procedure before eventually being put forward as an EU Directive.

With the “Disclosure and duties” regulation the EU Commission is proposing a harmonised EU approach to the integration of ESG risks and opportunities in the procedures of institutional investors, asset managers, insurance distributors and investment advisors, clarifying that integrating sustainability risks is  part of their fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of clients. The regulation would also set uniform rules on how those financial market participants should disclose to investors regarding compliance with the integration of ESG risks and opportunities.

The “Disclosures and duties” regulation will have an impact on all stakeholders in the asset management industry, asset managers as well as asset owners and ultimately the end clients. It will especially affect the occupational pension companies (IORPs), as well as asset managers managing assets for them.

The seminar is co-hosted by BNP Paribas Asset Management and SEB.

Note: The seminar is open to everyone, please feel free to forward the invitation.

Date: November 25, 13.15 – 16.00.

Venue: Alecta, Regeringsgatan 107.

Registration: Please register by filling out the form further below, no later than 21 of November.

Agenda

13.15 Registration and coffee

13.30 Welcome  – Anita Lindberg, chairman Swesif

13.35 Introduction – Tobias Lindbergh, Head of Sustainable Finance at Handelsbanken Debt Capital Markets, and Swesif Board member
– Where are we now with the Taxonomy and Disclosures and duties and what  is it all about

13.50 Helena Viñes Fiestas, Deputy head Global Sustainability Center, BNP Paribas Asset Management and member of the Technical Expert Group for the Taxonomy

– Unlocking the potential of the EU Taxonomy: How a common classification system can help allocating capital to where it has most impact – and the challenges to get it right

14.30 Marie Baumgarts, Head of Sustainability, SEB Group and member of the Technical Expert Group for Disclosures and duties

– Transparency: The importance of climate-related disclosures and the ”Non-binding-guidelines”

15.00  Coffee

15.15 An asset owner´s view on the new regulation – Kristofer Dreiman, Head of Responsible Investments, Länsförsäkringar Asset Management

– How will the new regulation affect Länsförsäkringar in the internal asset management and the evaluation of external managers? What new requirements will this bring about?                                                          

15.25 Panel discussion and Q&A

• Helena Viñes Fiestas
• Marie Baumgarts
• Kristofer Dreiman
• Åsa Sterte, Deputy Director and Sustainability Coordinator, Financial markets and Institutions, Ministry of Finance

Moderator – Tobias Lindbergh

15.55 Closing remarks – Anita Lindberg

16.00 End of seminar

Registration