Policy & Regulation

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) sought comment on its draft general sustainability-related financial disclosures standard.

The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) consulted on how the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) proposed sustainability standards should be implemented in Australia.

RIAA, the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Aotearoa New Zealand External Reporting Board (XRB) take a closer look at the new International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) draft standards for sustainability disclosures.In this RIAA member-only event, key representatives from the VRF, ASIC, XRB and RIAA speak about:

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has congratulated the incoming Government of Australia, and has called for the establishment of a national sustainable finance strategy which can unlock investment opportunities and underpin strong action on climate change and other key societal issues. “From climate change to housing affordability to gender equality, many of the issues the electorate has deemed important at this election mirror the big issues which investors are pushing for action on,” said RIAA CEO Simon O’Connor. RIAA is calling on the Government to establish a whole of government approach to embedding sustainability into the financial system, to underpin a strong and prosperous economy, to position Australian competitively and to help address local and global challenges.

The Australian Government’s announcement that superannuation funds will be required to disclose their holdings from 31 March 2022 has been welcomed by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). Under the new regulations, super funds will be required to disclose information about the identity, value and weightings of their investments, with portfolio holdings disclosure to occur every six months thereafter. “RIAA is supportive of and welcomes the introduction of mandatory portfolio holdings disclosure for super funds. We have advocated for many years that portfolio holdings disclosure is a critical element of transparency and accountability for super fund members and beneficiaries,” said RIAA CEO Simon O’Connor. “Disappointingly though, super funds will not be required to disclose the holdings of funds that are managed externally. Given almost three-quarters of super funds use external managers for over 90% of their assets, we would have expected the requirements to include these underlying holdings.”

The Chartered Financial Accountants (CFA) Institute developed voluntary, global industry standards, the CFA Institute ESG Disclosure Standards for Investment Products.

Federal Parliament Inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth into prudential regulation of investment in Australia’s export industries.

Exposure Draft Regulations and Explanatory Statement for the Australian Government’s Your Future, Your Super (YFYS) package of reforms designed to make sure the superannuation system delivers better outcomes for members.

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) sought views on its proposed guidance on advertising offers of financial products under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. The proposed guidance set out its expectations of what good conduct in the advertising of financial products would look like.

In a world first, welcomed by RIAA, the NZ Government will require default pension funds to exclude investments in fossil fuel producers. The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) welcomes the announcement by the NZ government that will see the New Zealand pension system take strong steps to ensure New Zealanders auto-enrolled in a default KiwiSaver funds will not be invested in companies producing fossil fuels in addition to other strong mandated requirements for responsible investment commitments, starting June 2021. This announcement comes at a time when there is increased recognition that the financial services sector must play a strong role in supporting the transition to a low carbon world, with ever greater numbers of investors setting in place 2050 emissions reductions targets, in line with global goals under the Paris Agreement. This is a world first whereby default pensions will be mandated under law to exclude fossil fuels from portfolios, aligning with New Zealand’s strong commitments to take action under the Paris Agreement. Simon O’Connor, CEO of RIAA said: “RIAA welcomes this strong announcement by the NZ Ministers for Finance and Commerce and Consumer Affairs that will embed responsible investment into default KiwiSaver funds, consistent with RIAA’s own calls made in our submission to this review process.” In a world first, welcomed by RIAA, the NZ Government will require default pension funds to exclude investments in fossil fuel producers. The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) welcomes the announcement by the NZ government that will see the New Zealand pension system take strong steps to ensure New Zealanders auto-enrolled in a default KiwiSaver funds will not be invested in companies producing fossil fuels in addition to other strong mandated requirements for responsible investment commitments, starting June 2021. This announcement comes at a time when there is increased recognition that the financial services sector must play a strong role in supporting the transition to a low carbon world, with ever greater numbers of investors setting in place 2050 emissions reductions targets, in line with global goals under the Paris Agreement. This is a world first whereby default pensions will be mandated under law to exclude fossil fuels from portfolios, aligning with New Zealand’s strong commitments to take action under the Paris Agreement. Simon O’Connor, CEO of RIAA said: “RIAA welcomes this strong announcement by the NZ Ministers for Finance and Commerce and Consumer Affairs that will embed responsible investment into default KiwiSaver funds, consistent with RIAA’s own calls made in our submission to this review process.” “This announcement recognises that investors who have strong commitments to a responsible investment including tackling climate change risks in their portfolios deliver better client outcomes.“