The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is establishing a new advisory committee to the FCA’s Board to work on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, and is looking for expressions of interest from stakeholders to join.
Earlier this year the FCA Board decided to establish a brand 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. The Committee’s role will be to provide advice to the Board on:
- how it executes oversight of ESG issues relevant to the FCA both as a regulator and our own operations
- relevant emerging ESG topics or issues
- how the FCA should develop its ESG Strategy[2], in keeping with the organisation’s statutory objectives and regulatory principles.
The Committee’s membership will include a small number of external experts who have in depth knowledge of ESG issues in the financial sector. Members will be appointed by the Board in a personal capacity and will need to abide by a conflict of interest policy[3]. We do not expect people currently employed by FCA regulated firms to be appointable to the Committee. We will also ensure diversity of the members of the Committee, in line with our commitment to promote diverse and inclusive financial services.
We expect the Committee to meet for the first time in Q4 2022, and normally quarterly from then onwards, but it can meet more frequently where necessary. The Board will also select a Chair of the Committee and we will provide secretariat support.
If you are interested in joining the Committee then please contact the ESG Advisory Committee with a copy of your CV by 16th September. Stakeholders can also contact the mailbox if they have any questions or need any further information on the Committee. Members appointed to the Committee will be announced once in place.