Paul A. Davies

Latham & Watkins Discusses ESG Considerations for Cryptocurrency

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The huge rise in popularity of Bitcoin — and the growing interest by mainstream financial institutions in virtual assets as an investable and tradable asset class — has shone a light on the cryptocurrency industry’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

The vast majority of the world’s financial institutions manage climate risk and other ESG risks in their own portfolios. As a result, many financial institutions perform related diligence on corporates they look to service, whether by traditional lending, capital markets underwriting, or direct investment. While the focus has primarily been on the ESG performance of cryptocurrency miners (given their … Read more

Latham & Watkins Discusses New CFTC Climate Risk Unit

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On March 17, 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the establishment of an interdivisional Climate Risk Unit (CRU) to assess the risks to US financial stability posed by climate change. The CRU aims to be a catalyst for change by highlighting the derivatives markets’ role in understanding, pricing, and addressing climate-related risks, as well as its role in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The announcement was made by Acting Chairman Rostin Behnam, whose efforts to steer the CFTC’s focus toward climate-related impacts on the financial system led to the publication of a landmark report by the CFTC’s … Read more

Latham & Watkins Discusses UK’s Enhanced Climate-Related Disclosures for Listed Companies

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On December 21, 2020, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed in a published Policy Statement[1] (the Statement) that it will introduce a new Listing Rule (the Rule) requiring premium listed companies to state whether they have made disclosures pursuant to the Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, and if not, why.

The Rule comes in response to the FCA’s March 2020 Consultation Paper, under which the FCA sought to enhance climate-related disclosures by listed issuers and to clarify existing disclosure obligations. The Rule is also a forerunner to the UK’s plan to fully align corporate disclosure with the … Read more

Latham & Watkins Discusses Department of Labor Rule on ESG Investing

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On October 30, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments (the Rule) and a related Fact Sheet, a codification of the spirit, if not the exact words, of a controversial proposal issued by the DOL in June 2020 (the Proposal). The Rule adopts amendments to certain provisions of the “investment duties” regulation under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), and requires fiduciaries of pension plans (and other benefit plans covered by ERISA) to choose investments “based solely on pecuniary factors” relevant to a particular … Read more