Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) (2024)

What is SFDR?

The EU regulation on sustainability-related disclosure in the financial services sector (EU/2019/2088) is a European regulation introduced to improve transparency in the market for sustainable investment products. The regulation imposes comprehensive sustainability disclosure requirements covering a wide range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria at both company and product level.

Product classification

SFDR mandates financial market participants to categorize their investment products as Article 6, 8 or 9, depending on the level of sustainability they demonstrate.

  • Article 6 products, represented by a grey label, do not have sustainability features and can consider sustainability risks.
  • Article 8 products, which are labelled light green, promote environmental and/or social characteristics while maintaining a sustainable investment strategy.
  • Article 9 products, labelled dark green, have sustainable investment as their primary objective, indicating that they prioritize environmental, social, and governance factors.

The information required under the SFDR Regulation is published on this website.

Integration of sustainability risks (Articles 3)

A sustainability risk is defined as an event or condition in the environmental, social or corporate governance (ESG) area, the occurrence of which could have a significant negative impact on the value of the investment. In the following document, we show how sustainability risks are considered at VP Bank and are incorporated into our investment decisions.

Sustainability risk integration in investment decisions and advice

Adverse sustainability impacts at entity level (Article 4)

Investment decisions and investment advice may cause, contribute to, or be directly linked to adverse - material or likely material - impacts on sustainability factors. In the following table, we disclose annually how we account for adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors at the company level.

Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) (2024)

FAQs

What are the problems with SFDR? ›

SFDR relies on self-assessment and self-reporting by financial firms. This may not always be reliable, either because of data quality or internal resource capacity. Some firms may be inclined to exaggerate or misrepresent their sustainability practices to attract investors or comply with the regulation.

What is the sustainable finance disclosure regulation SFDR regulation? ›

The SFDR aims to bring a level playing field for financial market participants (“FMP”) and financial advisers on transparency in relation to sustainability risks, the consideration of adverse sustainability impacts in their investment processes and the provision of sustainability-related information with respect to ...

Who is exempt from SFDr? ›

The SFDR's broad scope applies to all financial advisers (FAs) and financial market participants (FMPs) based in the EU. The SFDR defines FAs as entities that provide investment or insurance advice. FAs with fewer than three employees are not required to provide information.

What are the penalties for non compliance with the SFDR? ›

There are no strong enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance included in SFDR. Firms that do not comply with the regulation may face reputational damage, but they may not face significant legal or financial penalties.

Does SFDR apply to all funds? ›

Overall, the SFDR is applicable to two types of financial institutions: Financial advisers that provide investment or insurance advice concerning insurance-based investment products (IBIPs). Participants in the financial markets who produce and sell financial goods as well as provide portfolio management services.

What are the principal adverse impacts under SFDR? ›

PAI relates to negative effects on sustainability both on entity and product level. Financial undertakings should start preparing disclosures as more granular reporting is required per 2023. The comply or explain principle may be applied.

What are the main points of SFDR? ›

The primary goals are to provide greater transparency on environmental and social characteristics, and sustainability within the financial markets, and to create common standards for reporting and disclosing information related to these considerations.

Who needs to comply with SFDr? ›

The SFDR applies to financial advisers and market participants within the EU, particularly those managing assets and providing investment advice. While it primarily targets larger firms with over 500 employees, smaller firms are also encouraged to comply with certain aspects of the regulation.

What products does SFDr apply to? ›

Who does SFDR apply to?
  • An insurance company that makes available an insurance-based investment product.
  • Investment firms that provide portfolio management.
  • An institution for occupational retirement provision.
  • A manufacturer of pension products.
  • An alternative investment fund manager.

Does SFDR apply to the US? ›

The SFDR applies to all financial market participants and financial advisors that have EU shareholders or are explicitly marketing to EU shareholders. This means that a US-based business might be required to comply with the SFDR.

Is the SFDR environmental or social? ›

The SFDR standardizes environmental, social, and governance-oriented (ESG) disclosures in the financial realm. SFDR aims to promote transparency and human rights and ensure investments do no significant harm to the EU's environmental objectives in the fight against climate change.

What is SFDR for private banks? ›

SFDR requires new transparency obligations (websites disclosures, pre-contractual disclosures) and periodic reporting requirements on investment management firms. The following section relates to the website disclosure requirements.

Is sfdr reporting mandatory? ›

SFDR is a set of EU regulations that require asset managers and other financial market participants to publicly disclose ESG information around their investment decisions and financial products, whether or not they are listed as sustainable.

What are the challenges of SFDR regulation? ›

New SFDR Standards Highlight 3 Key Reporting Challenges
  • limited sophistication of sustainability-related data.
  • gaps and limitations in the required data availability and accuracy.
  • a lack of experience with SFDR requirements.

What are 3 consequences of non compliance? ›

Organizations must ensure they understand and adhere to applicable measures to avoid any potential repercussions. Answer: Non-compliance with sanctions regulations can result in fines, criminal proceedings, and damaged reputations, affecting businesses' credibility and performance.

What is the SFDR sustainable risk? ›

“Sustainability risk” is defined in the SFDR as an environmental, social or governance event or condition which, if it occurs, could cause an actual or potential material negative impact on the value of an investment.

What is the effect of SFDR? ›

The primary goals are to provide greater transparency on environmental and social characteristics, and sustainability within the financial markets, and to create common standards for reporting and disclosing information related to these considerations.

What is the SFDR regulation in a nutshell? ›

The EU SFDR outlines specific definitions for Sustainability Risks and Principal Adverse Impacts: Sustainability Risks refer to environmental, social or governance events, or conditions, such as climate change, that could cause an actual or a potential material negative impact on the value of an investment.

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