The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has issued new guidance on enhanced disclosures for ESG funds.
Published in a new circular, the guidance includes a new requirement for ESG funds to conduct and disclose periodic assessments of how they incorporate ESG factors and also provides additional guidance for ESG funds with a climate-related focus.
The SFC have said, “Since 2019, awareness of ESG investing has grown and the number of ESG funds offered to the public in Hong Kong has more than doubled. In view of the rapid development of a diverse range of ESG investment strategies, the SFC is mindful of the need for asset managers to clearly disclose how funds attain their ESG focus in order to help investors understand these products and assess whether they meet their investment needs.”
“Making sustainability-related disclosures more transparent, comparable and consistent will help investors identify suitable ESG funds and reduce opportunities for greenwashing,” said Mr Ashley Alder, the SFC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Hong Kong’s financial market is where global capital connects with Mainland enterprises, so what we do here can have an outsized influence on global developments in green and sustainable finance.”