ESG Disclosure Rules From Europe Challenge U.S. Fund Managers
Scores of U.S. fund managers are being forced to comply with sweeping new European rules on climate and other sustainable-finance issues, requiring them to disclose the potential harm their investments could do to the environment and society.
Fund companies including Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp. that sell investment products in the European Union come under the new rules that took effect this month, though details are still being finalized.
“There are many issues to be resolved, it is causing anxiety,” said Rick Lacaille, global lead for environmental, social and governance investing at State Street, whose SPDR exchange-traded funds are some of the most popular.
Surging investor appetite for green investments means that rules on disclosure, both for traditional funds and those that call themselves sustainable, will become increasingly important.
In the U.S., the Biden administration is taking the first tentative steps toward imposing similar rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission already is focusing on climate-related disclosures by companies. While any big changes will take years, they could change the way companies disclose information about diversity, carbon emissions and worker pay.
Read more @The Wall Street Journal
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