Finastra Adds €STR, TONAR and SORA Rates to Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator

Finastra has introduced additional Alternative Reference Rates (ARR) and Risk-Free Rates (RFRs) to its Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator. The move enables banks, corporates and borrowers to calculate ARR in preparation for the end of the majority of LIBOR rates on December 31, 2021. In addition to SOFR for the US dollar and SONIA for pounds sterling, the calculator service now incorporates ARR rates €STR for the euro and TONAR for the Japanese yen, and the RFR rate SORA for the Singapore dollar.

The calculator service is available through Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open innovation platform and can be integrated with a bank’s existing lending systems. The use of Open APIs facilitates integration with legacy systems that have not been prepared for the LIBOR transition and are unable to perform complex ARR calculations. The Finastra calculated ARR rates can be directly consumed by these legacy applications, avoiding the need for complex and costly system changes.

Germany’s BaFin to Take Aim at Greenwashing

Germany’s financial regulator, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), has made fighting greenwashing one its chief aims. The Bonn- and Frankfurt-based body said it would seek to combat “misleading marketing practices” in sustainable finance as one of its 10 medium-term objectives. The overseer launched a consultation in August on drawing up guidelines to establish best practices for labelling of securities described as green or sustainable. The new list of objectives, which continue to be topped by securing the stability of financial markets, will guide BaFin’s activities through to 2025.

IOSCO Suggests Regulation of ESG Data and Tech Vendors

A body comprising global securities regulators gas suggested individual national watchdogs keep ESG data and technology providers under their gaze. The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) said in a report that the growing importance of ESG data and tech vendors made it prudent to encompass them within regulatory remits remits. The report follows an IOSCO consultation on the matter launched in July and comes on the heels of revelations last month that the UK is considering such a move.

ICE Benchmark Administration Updates on LIBOR Cessation and Synthetic LIBOR

ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), the authorised and regulated administrator of LIBOR, has provided an update regarding LIBOR cessation and synthetic LIBOR following announcements from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made over the past year and focusing on when LIBOR settings will cease and the creation of a synthetic methodology for selected LIBOR settings through 2022.

Arabesque Data Available of GoldenSource ESG Impact Platform

Enterprise data management company GoldenSource is to enable investors to access Arabesque’s S-Ray ESG data offering through its own cloud-based ESG Impact platform. The deal, which includes the use of Frankfurt-based Arabesque’s SFDR Data Solution, comes weeks before asset managers and other financial institutions must begin reporting on their ESG performance under the European regulations. Arabesque’s S-Ray suite provides emissions and other information on global stocks, drawing on four million data points each day, the company said.

Broadridge Launches Web-based ESG Performance Dashboard

FinTech Broadridge Financial Solutions has unveiled its ESG Performance Dashboard, which offers companies a view of their sustainability and governance performance. The rankings and ratings are based on more than 300 million data points drawn from 800-plus sources, the New York-company said. The web-located dashboard will show firms where they can make improvements to their ESG records, it added. An extension also enables clients to compare their scores over the past five years.

IBA Upgrades Aviation Carbon Tracking, Analysis Product

Aviation data and advisory firm IBA has upgraded its Carbon Emissions Calculator to help airlines report and analyse their fleets’ carbon footprints. The service is accessible through the UK-based company’s expanded InsightIQ product. IBA said the improvements had been made after it consulted more than 100 companies following the product’s launch in March. For investors, the new-look InsightIQ will also offer information on companies’ investments for ESG compliance.

EFRAG Names 71 Experts to Create Standards Proposals

The body charged with drafting sustainability reporting standards for the European Union’s regulators has put in place a team of 71 experts to begin the process. The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) appointed experts from finance, academia, industry, NGOs and the small business sector. They will sit on 11 Expert Working Groups that have been tasked with hammering out a set of standards that can provide the underpinnings of the union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. EFRAG put out a call for potential members in August and said it had chosen the 71 from “very large number of high quality applications”.

SEC Reiterates it Has Powers to Prosecute Greenwashing

US financial watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned that it will come after companies who make false ESG claims or commit vital data in their disclosures. Division of Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal reminded a conference in Washington DC that rules that applied to the selling of financial products were also relevant to claims about sustainability. He cited recent examples in which the SEC brought cases against Fiat Chrysler and Pax World Management for greenwashing. “We will continue to apply long-standing, well-known and understood regulations and standards that govern the securities industry when investigating possible misconduct,” he said.

More Net-Zero Guidelines from UK Regulator, Institutions

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has become the latest British financial overseer to issue proposed ESG guidelines. The regulator’s ESG Strategy details how it will monitor financial institutions’ management of climate-related risks. That coincided with the publication of a report by UK-based financial firms on how they can help bring about a decarbonised world. The Financing a Just Transition coalition of banks and investors issued its “Just Zero” report, which illustrates how City firms can help their workers, communities and suppliers cut their carbon footprints. Last week the London Stock Exchange unveiled its own guidance on what would constitute green and sustainability bonds, the first central bank to do so.