Against the background of accentuated demand by various stakeholders for climate-related information and disclosure on board diversity, the Singapore Exchange Regulation (“SGX RegCo“) proposes requiring issuers listed on the SGX-ST Mainboard) and Catalist (collectively, “issuers“) to:
- Include climate-related disclosures in their sustainability reports consistent with recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures under a “phased approach”; and
- Put in place a board diversity policy and describe the policy in their annual reports.
These proposals are detailed in SGX RegCo’s consultation paper on “Climate and Diversity: The Way Forward”. Other salient proposals in the consultation paper include requirements for assurance of sustainability reports, reporting timeframe for issuing sustainability reports, and trainings for directors on sustainability.
At present, SGX RegCo proposes that it will not prescribe any specific sustainability reporting frameworks and Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG“) indicators for issuers. Instead, SGX RegCo proposes, in a separate consultation paper on “Starting with a Common Set of Core ESG Metrics”, a common set of core ESG metrics as a starting point for issuers in their reporting of material ESG factors as well as an ESG data portal for structured access to ESG data.
The consultations for both consultation papers are open until 27 September 2021.
This Update highlights significant aspects of these key proposals and their potential impact on issuers to consider.
For more information, click here to read the full Legal Update.
