ESG

A firm expecting to earn £500,000 or more from environmental, social and governance ratings will have just over a month next summer to submit its application for authorization under the UK's new regulatory regime. Smaller providers will have a separate window. By June 2028, firms carrying out regulated ESG ratings activities in the country will generally need permission from the Financial Conduct Authority to continue.

The ACPR has begun close monitoring of the main French insurers' operational response to the summer 2026 wildfires, which caused roughly 25,000 claims and an estimated EUR €500 Million in losses. The loss is not a solvency threat, but the ACPR flags claims execution risk, policyholder information duties, and the longer-term insurability of climate-exposed risks. Compliance teams should treat this as a signal of supervisory expectations on claims governance, customer communication, and sustainability risk management.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has asked California to exempt federally chartered banks from two climate disclosure laws, warning that the reporting requirements could interfere with federal banking supervision and prompt some institutions to withdraw from the state.

In a September 14, 2026 speech slide deck, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel argues that macroeconomic, fiscal, and financial stability are interconnected and that sound bank regulation let banks absorb recent shocks. She also warns that defense, interest, ageing, and climate costs, together with slowing potential growth, strain public finances. This is not a rule change, but it signals supervisory and policy priorities and the scenario backdrop that compliance and risk teams should reflect in stress testing and planning.

Thailand's December review of the SET50 Index will determine which companies must comply first with the country's new sustainability reporting requirements. Those included in the index will be required to disclose information covering 2027 under international standards, with their first reports scheduled for 2028.

The International Sustainability Standards Board has proposed new guidance on nature-related financial disclosures, but companies would not have to follow it to claim compliance with the board's sustainability reporting standards.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is contacting companies that may be subject to the state's corporate greenhouse gas reporting law, warning that their first emissions disclosures are due November 10, 2026, and that qualifying businesses must pay program fees even if they are unable to submit emissions data under a first-year reporting provision.