Knowledge

On 14 May 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published general guidelines on the use of terms related to environmental, social or governance criteria (“ESG criteria”) (the “Guidelines”).

Thus, the Guidelines are an ESMA measure aiming at the prevention of greenwashing.

The Guidelines will be translated into the different European Union languages and these translations will come into force three months after publication. The management companies of funds targeted by the Guidelines will have 6 months to reorganise their portfolios or change the name of the funds which do not comply with the established thresholds. This means, in practice, a total of 9 months to adapt the funds and their portfolios to the Guidelines.

See the information note below, prepared by Márcio Carreira Nobre, partner and coordinator of the Finance and Capital Markets practice, and Natacha Branco, associate in the same practice area.

TELLES | Our team closely follow the shifting ESG landscape. The Finance and Capital Markets practice of TELLES has been advising funds on structuring its investment policy to ensure that its investments may qualify as sustainable investment and, when necessary, putting in place restructuring measures such as the issuance of debt instruments which may qualify as sustainable investments. For this transition phase, at TELLES you will find a specialised ESG Due Diligence service for projects and investments, which will enable funds and their portfolios to be assessed and, if necessary, adapted in order to comply with the obligations arising from the Guidelines.