[S Vishnu Ameya is a B.A., LL. B (Hons.) graduate from Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam] In recent years, disclosure of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices of a company have gained significant attention from investors, regulators, and stakeholders worldwide in building reputation, trust and managing risks. However, the question arose, whether such...
Unravelling RBI’s Climate Disclosure Mandate: A Step towards Financial Sustainability?
[Shivam Bhattacharya is a 5th year and Subhasish Pamegam is a 3rd year law student at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] In a significant development, the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) has published the ‘Draft Disclosure Framework on Climate-related Financial Risks, 2024’. The framework mandates the Indian financial institutions (“FIs”) to incorporate climate-related assessments into...
The Broken Promise of ESG Investing
[Shuchi Agrawal is a Research Fellow in the Corporate Law and Financial Regulation team at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy] The concept of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors was first introduced into the mainstream in a 2004 United Nations report on sustainable finance. Since then, the idea has gained much popularity and has become increasingly important in the financial sphere...
Evaluating India’s Regulatory Regime for ESG Rating Agencies
[Shouvik Kumar Guha is an Associate Professor of Law and Sourav Paul a fourth year undergraduate student, both at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] On July 3, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI’), introduced the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Credit Rating Agencies) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 (‘Regulation’) to amend the Securities...
SEBI Circular on ESG Disclosures of Value Chains: A Double-Edged Sword
[Avani Hegde and Praneel Panchagavi are 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at Symbiosis Law School, Pune] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a circular on July 12, 2023 notifying the mandate for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures and assurance requirements for value chains of the top 250 listed entities by market capitalization from the financial year...
The Regulatory Progression of ESG in India
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has had a pivotal status in the debates surrounding corporate law and governance at the turn of the century. Although CSR was ensconced in the idea of voluntarism by which companies and their boards are invited to pay attention to the interests of various constituencies affected by a company’s activities, in some jurisdictions such as India it...
India’s Changing Landscape of ESG Disclosures
[Aanchal Kabra is a 5th year B.A. LLB (Hons.) student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] Sustainable finance has been gaining considerable prominence in corporate India. This conception of finance refers to finance which integrates environmental, social, and governance (‘ESG’) criteria into business and investment decisions, in an effort to increase benefits to...
Double Materiality in Indian ESG Disclosures
[Aanchal Kabra is a 5th year B.A. LLB (Hons.) student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] The concept of ‘materiality’ in financial disclosures was first introduced in the United States Securities Act of 1993. Thereafter, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) has maintained a consistent understanding of what information constitutes...
Tackling ESG Mislabels and Greenwashing: SEC in the BNY Mellon Case
[Salini Augusty and Nikash John are 5th-year students from the School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru] Sustainable development has progressively become a driving factor in the age of conscious investments. This ‘green factor’ is arguably exploited by corporates to misdirect investors for their gains. The environment, social, and governance, better known as the ESG, though...
ESG Rating Providers: Analyzing India’s Proposed Regulatory Framework
[Paridhi Jain is a 5th year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Symbiosis Law School, Noida] Once a niche market for investors, environmental, social, governance (“ESG”) investing has grown over the past few years. The pandemic is being referred to as a “sustainability” crisis and one that has re-invigorated focus on climate change, acting as a wake-up call for investors to prioritize a more...
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