European Commission publishes delegated regulation to fine-tune SFDR RTS

The European Commission has published a Delegated Regulation (2023/363) to amend and correct the SFDR regulatory technical standards (RTS) (2022/1288) - in particular, to update the template disclosures for products investing in environmentally sustainable activities. 

Fundamentally, the changes look to ensure that investors receive the information set out in the Complementary Climate Delegated Act (CDA) (2022/1214), which had been adopted nearly a year ago. This includes detail in the pre-contractual disclosures, on websites and in periodic reports regarding exposures to investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy activities.

The amends include replacing the SFDR RTS annex templates for pre-contractual and periodic disclosures, which now include a graph to demonstrate the extent to which portfolios are exposed to the gas and nuclear-related activities that are EU Taxonomy compliant - as set out in the CDA. 

The changes follow on the heels of a September 2022 report from the ESAs on disclosure of financial products’ exposure to investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy activities. They are considered necessary in order to further improve transparency and foster comparability of information disclosed to investors. 

The revisions will enter into force on 20 February. 

Extract below of the new information included within the pre-contractual disclosure.