The European insurance and reinsurance federation, Insurance Europe, believes that the European Commission could improve its proposal on environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings, the consultation on which closed on Friday 1 September.
According to Insurance Europe, raw ESG data should be included in the scope of the text in the same way as ESG ratings. Common standards and binding requirements should be established to “guarantee the quality of ESG data products, their reliability and comparability”.
According to Insurance Europe, all ESG rating providers should be included in the regulation in order to avoid the possibility of circumvention through the involvement of third parties, “in particular in the dissemination of ESG ratings and ESG data through licensing agreements with unregulated group companies”.
The text should also include an information obligation and guarantee “non-discriminatory access to ESG ratings”, including for private investors, so that ESG ratings are better integrated into investment decisions.
Finally, the European insurance and reinsurance federation believes that a “clear definition” of financial products should be proposed, and that implementation deadlines and transitional periods should “be chosen in such a way as to allow European and non-European agencies to put in place the necessary legal organisational structures”. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)