In today’s post, we shall examine a concept that we have examined a number of times before here in Financial Regulation Matters , and that is the concept of ESG, or more accurately the integration of ‘E’nvironmental, ‘S’ocial, and ‘G’overnace concerns in relation to business. Today’s post focuses on two stories in particular, and uses them as a vehicle for examining some merging debates around this ever-growing sector. We looked over the summer at the story that Nissan had admitted to falsifying some of its emissions-related data , which naturally should lead us to think of the sector-defining Volkswagen scandal , a scandal which will leave a massive mark on one of the industry’s powerhouses. In line with those developments, Audi was fined €800 million last Tuesday for similar transgressions, ranging from 2004 to 2018 . There are, of course, a number of issues and variables that are affecting the auto industry at the moment, but for our discussion surrounding the concept of ESG,...

In 2017, this author produced an article that examined the potential regulatory framework that exists in the UK where Credit Rating Agencies are concerned ( later published in 2018 ). We spoke about this issue here in Financial Regulation Matters , where we discussed how there may be a need to incorporate sole regulatory responsibility within one of the regulatory bodies should the UK be unable to come to a ‘deal’ with their EU partners. As part of the EU (Withdrawal) Act, the Government has recently come to a decision regarding which body would be responsible for regulating the CRAs in the wake of a no-deal Brexit, and it confirms the findings of the article. However, it is worth revisiting this developing story to examine what the consequences of such a decision may be. It has been decided, as the original article produced by this author predicted, that the Financial Conduct Authority would be the regulatory body charged with supervising the credit rating industry , should th...

We have spoken here in Financial Regulation Matters of the potential for a regulatory race-to-the-bottom in the post-Brexit era. With the U.K. choosing to go out into the economic landscape on its own, the potential for a weakening of regulatory protection to encourage foreign trade and investment is tremendous, and hardly a surprise. Yet, the FCA, as one of the fundamental elements in the regulatory framework that governs the U.K., has no option but to refute any suggestion that the framework will be weakened as a result of Brexit. In this post, we shall examine their latest insistence on the back of what were very telling declarations by leading British politicians. Speaking on a recent visit to Tokyo, the Economic Secretary John Glen told his audience that ‘ we will do whatever it takes to keep the UK as a global hub for financial services and to maintain the City of London as an asset for Europe ’. This follows on from Theresa May telling the UN Summit in New York recently ...