Regulatory Support Services
BlueMark’s impact verification and assessment services help investors navigate complex and dynamic regulatory requirements.
How we can help
Drawing on our deep expertise in verification and our many consultations with European regulators, BlueMark is uniquely positioned to help investors confidently navigate and align to evolving regulations, including the UK FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Go beyond regulatory compliance
Our services are designed to enable investors to go beyond a “check-the-box” exercise. Engaging with BlueMark is a cost-effective way for investors to identify gaps in their policies and practices, address concerns about compliance and reputational risk, and have confidence in their impact management and reporting approach.
What is SFDR and SDR?
Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR)
The Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels are the UK’s set of rules for labeling, disclosure, and marketing of sustainable investment products set to take effect in mid-2024. All UK-domiciled financial market participants (FMPs) must follow the SDR, even if they choose not to use the new labels for their products. To use the Sustainability Focus™, Sustainability Improvers™, Sustainability Impact™, or Sustainability Mixed Goals™ label, a product must fit the category description and show evidence to fulfill specific qualifying criteria.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is a regulatory framework introduced by the European Union (EU) aimed at preventing greenwashing by increasing transparency around sustainability claims made by FMPs. The regulation applies to all FMPs domiciled in the EU, as well as non-EU domiciled firms actively marketing financial products in any EU member state. Financial products may be classified as either Article 6, 8, or 9, depending on the product’s investment strategy, which entails different levels of sustainability commitment and corresponding levels of disclosure requirements. SFDR is a complex and dynamic regulatory framework and specific requirements, such as the introduction of product labels, are currently subject to amendments.
Readiness assessments for new funds
Understand the obligations associated with aligning to SDR/SFDR by identifying gaps in your impact or sustainable investing frameworks.
Meet relevant labeling and disclosure requirements to ensure you are well positioned with industry best practices.
Receive practical gap analyses to understand what it would take to enhance your fund’s strategy, governance, management, or reporting plans.
Independent assessments for existing funds
Gain confidence that you appropriately meet the requirements and underlying criteria for a given product label or classification.
SDR: Meet the FCA requirements for product labeling by evaluating each category of qualifying criteria: sustainability objectives, investment policy and strategy, KPIs, stewardship strategy, and governance measures.
SFDR: Are you meeting Article 8 or Article 9 requirements? Work with BlueMark to assess the completeness of disclosures and underlying criteria while ensuring appropriate classification to product labels.
BlueMark's Core Services
Clients often choose to bundle regulatory support services to BlueMark’s core impact verifications. Contact us today if you’d like to learn more about how our core verification services may be helpful in addressing your needs.
Practice Verification
Assesses your impact management practices in alignment to leading practices and market standards (i.e., Operating Principles for Impact Management).
A practice verification can help ensure underlying systems, policies, and practices are robust. Such an engagement is highly complementary to an assessment of regulatory alignment and readiness, helping clients go beyond compliance.
Reporting Verification
Assesses the completeness and reliability of an investor’s impact reporting, drawing on a number of industry frameworks (i.e., IF Norms) and market research.
A reporting verification can help ensure you have accurate and complete information to confidently report against regulatory disclosure requirements. These engagements can be supplemented by limited assurance of relevant metrics to ensure compliance.
Fund ID
The Fund ID draws on a number of market frameworks and standards to assess a Fund or Product’s approach to sustainable and/or impact investing through its strategy, governance, management and reporting.
Fund ID assessments can help benchmark your fund’s approach to impact and help ensure appropriate classification of regulatory product labels and compliance with their related criteria.