The FCA has established a new advisory committee to the FCA’s Board to work on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues.
Earlier this year the FCA Board agreed to establish a new ESG Advisory Committee to help execute its ESG-related responsibilities. This includes meeting the Government’s expectation that we 'have regard' to the UK’s commitment to achieving a net zero economy by 2050, when considering how to advance and achieve our objectives and functions.
We have already delivered a considerable amount of work in line with the priorities set out in our ESG Strategy. This includes publishing proposals for measures aimed at clamping down on greenwashing, the formation of a group to develop a voluntary Code of Conduct for ESG data and ratings providers, our active monitoring of ESG-related business by firms and our review of climate disclosures by listed companies. We have also been an active participant in the Government's Transition Plan Taskforce, helping to develop a draft framework and guidance for the design of transition plans.
As our work continues to progress, the committee will support the Board in executing oversight of ESG-related issues relevant to the FCA as a corporate entity and as a regulator.
Additionally, the Committee will provide guidance to the Board on relevant emerging ESG topics or issues and views on how the FCA should develop its ESG strategy in keeping with the organisation’s statutory objectives and regulatory principles. This is in line with the role played by our statutory panels, which provide independent advice to us (for example our Markets Practitioner Panel). Details on these can be found here[2].
Following a high level of interest, we are pleased to announce the appointments of the following members of the Committee:
- Tom Gosling, Executive Fellow in the Department of Finance at London Business School and Executive Fellow at the European Corporate Governance Institute
- Catherine Howarth OBE, Chief Executive of ShareAction
- Tim Mohin, former Chief Sustainability Officer for Persefoni AI and formerly Chief Executive of the Global Reporting Initiative
- Desiree Fixler, Founder of RYSN Consulting and Chair of VentureESG
- Sonali Siriwardena, Partner and Global Head of ESG at Simmons and Simmons
- Harald Walkate, Senior Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth (CSP) at the University of Zurich
The Committee will also include the FCA’s Chair, other Non-Executive Directors and the Director of ESG.
Members have been appointed by the Board in a personal capacity and will abide by a conflict of interest policy.
The Terms of Reference for the Committee can be viewed here[3], and further information on the FCA Board can be found here[4].