04/24/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2024 00:46
The Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) is conducting a thematic review in 2023-2024 about the consideration of sustainability risks in UCITS and non-UCITS funds (hereinafter also "investment funds") and their sustainability disclosures. The objective of the thematic review is to assess companies' adherence to applicable regulation concerning sustainable finance, collect further information on greenwashing risks related to investment funds, and identify further relevant supervisory and regulatory intervention to address greenwashing risk.
The thematic review assesses all Finnish management companies and Alternative Investment Fund Managers managing non-UCITS funds, and how greenwashing risks and sustainability risks are taken into account in investment funds managed by them. In addition, the FIN-FSA sent a more extensive survey on the same theme to eight companies. The thematic review is part of a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) coordinated by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)1.
The thematic review is divided into two areas, comprising:
The first part of the thematic review assessed findings on the prevention and management of greenwashing risk. Based on the findings, companies do consider greenwashing risk, but they do it in a relatively limited manner. Key findings of the first part of the thematic review:
FIN-FSA recommends all companies to study the findings presented in the attached supervision letter about the consideration of greenwashing risk, to assess their operations and take remediating actions where necessary. The FIN-FSA will report separately on the findings of the second part of the thematic review in autumn 2024.
1ESMA and NCAs to assess disclosures and sustainability risks in the investment fund sector
The corresponding Finnish-language supervision release was published on 20 March 2024