Along with the steady rise in investments in Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG“)-related financial products, greenwashing has emerged as a significant regulatory concern. In this regard, it has been reported that there has been a spate of greenwashing allegations against financial institutions offering ESG funds.
In Singapore, to combat greenwashing of retail ESG funds and boost investor confidence, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS“) issued MAS Circular No. CFC 02/2022 (“Circular“) on 28 July 2022 setting out enhanced disclosure and reporting requirements/guidelines and shared its expectations on how existing requirements under the Code on Collective Investment Scheme and the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investment) (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations 2005 apply to retail ESG funds. The Circular will take effect on 1 January 2023.
In this Update, we briefly highlight the key requirements and guidelines concerning retail ESG Funds.
For more information, click here to read the full Legal Update.
