CGS Adds Sustainability Categorisation to Bonds

CUSIP Global Services (CGS) has incorporated ESG indicators for US corporate and municipal bonds within its data feeds. The unit of S&P Global now provides classifications of issuances according to their sustainability attributes. The new feed uses International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and Climate Bonds Initiative methodologies to identify the securities as green, social or sustainable bonds. Roger Fahy, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at CGS, said the new data field was created because the company had been approached by investor clients keen to know how to differentiate between green issuance and “vanilla” debt. “We see there is a need to be able to logically categorise new offerings separate from the general population of debt,” Fahy told A-Team ESG Insight.

LSEG and JPXG to Launch TOPIX-based Climate Indices

New climate indices are to be launched based on the TOPIX 500, offering investors a net-zero benchmark for companies listed on Japan’s stock market. Compiled by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Japan Exchange Group (JPX), the FTSE/JPX Net Zero Index Series will be based on the European Union’s Climate Transition Benchmark and will be aligned to meeting net-zero targets by 2050. They will also integrate Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) Management Quality scores, which indicates how far a company has built climate-change policies into its operations. The indices, which will go live early next year, can be used for passive or active investment strategies and will also be available for research use, the LSEG said.

Goldman Sachs Adds Carbon Footprint Measures to Marquee

US investment bank Goldman Sachs has built carbon footprint analyses of companies covered on its Marquee digital marketplace, enabling institutional investors to track the emissions of stocks and corporate bonds within their portfolios. The calculations are based on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions data as well as carbon intensity levels and net-zero commitments. Users will also be able to compare their portfolios against benchmarks that will enable them to analyse carbon contributors by sector, industry and region. Analytics within the offering comply with global standards including the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and the those of the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures.

UK’s FCA Seeking Views on ESG Product Labelling

The UK’s financial watchdog is seeking views from market participants on how investment products should be labelled with regard to their sustainability and corporate social responsibility profiles. The Financial Conduct Authority said it was also gathering opinions on supporting entity-level and product-level disclosures. The announcement was made on Finance Day at the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow. The findings will shape policy proposals that will go out for consultation in the spring, the FCA said. In its latest Financial Lives survey, the regulator found that 80 per cent of respondents said they wanted their money to “do some good”.

GRI Revises Universal Standards and Restructures Governance

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has revised its universal standards to help subscribers better report on their ESG impacts. The revisions, the “most significant” update since 2016, incorporate human rights disclosures and have been carried out to enable firms to better respond to new regulations, particularly SFDR. The Netherlands-based sustainability standards setting organisation has also reshaped its governance structure, creating a two-tired setup comprising a Supervisory Board of directors and a Management Board, consisting of the CEO and Chief Financial Officer. Current CEO Eric Hespenheide will step down in January.

SmartStream Partners with Acadia to Automate Collateral Interest Payments

Financial transaction solutions vendor SmartStream has partnered with risk management services provider Acadia to automate the processing and calculation of interest statements for SmartStream’s customers and their counterparties. Acadia’s Margin Manager platform will work alongside SmartStream’s TLM Collateral Management solution, to dispatch interest statements, reconcile, and resolve issues with counterparties in a standardised messaging format, removing the reliance on email exchanges and the uploading of statement data to resolve disputes. Acadia’s matching engine will pair statements, highlight discrepancies, and produce final interest statements for clients and their relevant counterparties.

KeyBank Goes Live with SmartStream’s Cloud Collateral Management Solution

US-based KeyBank has deployed transaction management solutions vendor SmartStream Technologies’ TLM Collateral Management OnDemand solution to handle margining for its cleared and non-cleared OTC derivatives, repos and securities lending business.

The cloud-based solution is now live and is helping to streamline efficiencies within KeyBank’s collateral management operations, handling data capture, validation, calculation and processing. The use of APIs links the application to other reporting solutions and downstream systems, and a management dashboard provides trend analysis and decision-making capabilities, enabling the bank to further improve and automate operational and credit risk strategies, and reduce internal infrastructure and support costs.

Investment Association Calls on G7 Summit to Escalate Commitment to Climate Change

The Investment Association (IA) is calling on this year’s G7 Summit to do more to tackle climate change by committing to improve companies’ reporting on climate-related risks. It proposes actions including support for the IFRS Sustainability Standards Board to develop sustainability reporting standards and increased cooperation between national regulators to implement the standards. The IA states: “Investment managers have a vital role to play in the shift to a more sustainable global economy. Ensuring high-quality and comparable data on the risks that companies face from climate change is key to achieving this and meeting net zero targets.”

Refinitiv Highlights 2021 ESG Trends

Refinitiv has released its 2021 ESG Playbook: Stability and sustainability in the investment community. The annual publication explores ESG trends for the year based on conversations with 24 industry leaders. Topics featured include the development trajectory for the ESG investing industry and sustainable finance as a whole, regulatory changes, transparency in ESG reporting, quality of data, and emerging technologies.

Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank Chooses Fenergo for CLM Solution

The world’s first digital trade finance bank, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank (AGTB), based in the UAE, has chosen Fenergo to deploy its CLM platform.

Fenergo will enable AGTB to meet its strategic objective to disrupt the trade finance market with a cloud-based, digital-first and client-centric model leveraging emerging technologies such as data analytics and API connectivity.

AGTB aims to address the gap in the trade finance market by becoming the first digital bank servicing the sector. Fenergo’s API-first CLM solutions will provide AGTB with a single client view across all departments, jurisdictions and products, while expediating Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) processes and time to revenue.