Travers Smith's Sustainability Insights: Labelling impact

Earlier this month, the FCA, the UK regulator, announced that its consultation on a sustainability disclosure and labelling regime for asset managers and regulated asset owners would be delayed until the autumn.  While it is clearly important to take the time needed to get these complex rules right, many firms will be disappointed by the delay.  They have been waiting to see what the UK's equivalent of the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) will look like. 

The UK has made the right decision, confirmed in a discussion paper issued last year, to separate its sustainability disclosure rules from its proposed fund labels.  Unlike the SFDR, the UK intends to lay down minimum standards for "green" investment products from the outset, so that investors can rely on the labels when making investment decisions.