The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (”SFDR” or “the Regulation”) applied from 10 March 2021. This Sustainability Risk Policy specifically addresses the obligation in Article 3 of the Regulation which requires either financial market participants and/or financial advisers (as applicable) to:
“…publish on their websites information about their policies on the integration of sustainability risks in their [in the case of financial market participants] investment decision‐making process or [in the case of financial advisers] investment advice or insurance advice [(as applicable)].”
Sustainability Risks
“Sustainability Risks” as defined in Article 2(22) of the Regulation: “an environmental, social or governance event or condition that, if it occurs, could cause an actual or a potential material negative impact on the value of an investment”.
Sustainability Risks include (but are not limited to) the following:
- environmental risks such as the impact of environmental events such as increased flooding risks on operations of portfolio companies;
- social risks such as impact of non-compliance with anti-slavery or working conditions laws and regulations by portfolio companies; and
- governance risks such as inadequate management oversight of portfolio companies.