Today, October 22nd 2021, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have published the final Regulatory Technical Standards with regard to the content and presentation of disclosures pursuant to Article 8(4), 9(6) and 11(5) of Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
The Application Date
The ESAs have explicitly noted that the European Commission has indicated all the SFDR RTS will be adopted in one instrument, with an expected application date of July 1st, 2022. In light of this, the ESAs acknowledge that the date of application for the draft RTS, originally indicated as January 1st, 2022, is likely to be moved forward.
Highlights:
- The disclosures should include information on “how, and to what extent” the economic activities the product invests in qualify as environmentally sustainable under the Taxonomy Regulation.
- Amendments of the pre-contractual disclosures for Article 8 and Article 9 SFDR products regarding PAIs.
- The ESAs have amended the pre-contractual disclosures under Article 17 and Article 24 SFDR RTS for Article 8 and Article 9 SFDR products to include not only information on whether, but also on how, a financial product considers principal adverse impacts on sustainability factors.
- Amendments of the pre-contractual disclosures for Article 8 and Article 9 SFDR products regarding the environmental objective(s) the financial product contributes to.
- Amendments of the Article 11 SFDR periodic disclosure, for products referred to in Article 6 TR, that should identify the environmental objective(s) the financial product has contributed to during the relevant reference period; plus information on how, and to what extent, investments underlying the financial product are in economic activities that qualify as environmentally sustainable under the TR.