A second delay to the FCA’s publication of its Policy Statement for UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and investment labels

The FCA has pushed back the publication of its Policy Statement on the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels regime from Q3 2023 to Q4 2023.

The announcement marks the second delay to the proposals (we covered the first delay here) and means that in scope asset managers will have further time to prepare and consider the SDR’s implications ahead of its likely application from Q4 2024 (12 months after the publication of the Policy Statement).

With around 240 responses received in relation to its initial consultation paper on the SDR regime, it appears that the FCA is working through the extensive feedback to its proposals with a view to not only delivering outcomes for consumers (in improving the sustainability information consumers have access to) but also taking into account the practical challengers faced by asset managers. 

In its commentary to the first delay, the FCA highlighted how international coherence with other global ESG disclosure regimes was being sought. How the SDR regime aligns with other ESG regulatory regimes will be a key point of interest for asset managers.