Normes d’encadrement

finance sociale et investissement responsable normes de droit

Inquiétant pour l’investissement responsable ?

Le Ministère du travail américain soumet à commentaire une proposition inquiétante pour l’investissement responsable. Cette proposition est détaillée dans l’Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance : « DOL Proposes New Rules Regulating ESG Investments » (7 juillet 2020).

Extrait :

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed for public comment rules that would further burden the ability of fiduciaries of private-sector retirement plans to select investments based on ESG factors and would bar 401(k) plans from using a fund with any ESG mandate as the default investment alternative for non-electing participants.

The proposed rules would prohibit a retirement plan fiduciary from making any investment, or choosing an investment fund, based on the consideration of an environmental, societal or governmental factor unless that factor independently represents a material economic investment consideration under generally accepted investment theories or serves as a tiebreaker in what the DOL characterizes as the rare case of economically equivalent investments. In order to select an investment with an ESG component, the plan fiduciaries would be required to compare investments or strategies on “pecuniary” factors such as diversification, liquidity and rate of return. Specific documentation would be required for the tiebreaker justification and for the selection and monitoring of an investment alternative in a 401(k) plan that includes ESG in its mandate or fund name. Most significantly, the proposed rules would prohibit a 401(k) plan from providing a qualified default investment alternative (“QDIA”) with an ESG component, no matter how small, even if that investment alternative satisfies the pecuniary factor requirements.

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divulgation extra-financière finance sociale et investissement responsable Normes d'encadrement normes de droit normes de marché

Commission legislative proposals on sustainable finance

La Commission européenne a fait plusieurs propositions législatives sur la finance durable en mai 2018 : « Commission legislative proposals on sustainable finance ».

 

In May 2018 the Commission presented a package of measures as a follow-up to its action plan on financing sustainable growth. The package includes 3 proposals aimed at:

  • establishing a unified EU classification system of sustainable economic activities (‘taxonomy’)
  • improving disclosure requirements on how institutional investors integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their risk processes
  • creating a new category of benchmarks which will help investors compare the carbon footprint of their investments.

In addition, the Commission is, from 24 May to 21 June 2018, seeking feedback on amendments to delegated acts under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the Insurance Distribution Directive to include ESG considerations into the advice that investment firms and insurance distributors offer to individual clients.

 

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Ivan Tchotourian