The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is recruiting external experts for its new environmental, social and governance (ESG) advisory committee, but is excluding people from firms it regulates.
The committee will help the regulator execute its ESG-related responsibilities and will be advising and supporting the board on how it tackles these issues in the industry.
Membership will include a small number of external experts who have in depth knowledge of ESG issues in the financial sector, the FCA said.
However, it does not expect people currently employed by FCA regulated firms to be appointable to the committee in these positions, it added.
The role of the committee “includes meeting the government’s expectation that we ‘have regard’ to the UK’s commitment to achieving a net zero economy by 2050, when considering how to advance and achieve our objectives and functions,” the FCA said.
It will provide advice to the board on:
- how it executes oversight of ESG issues relevant to the FCA as a regulator and its own operations;
- relevant emerging ESG topics or issues;
- how the FCA should develop its ESG strategy, in keeping with the organisation’s statutory objectives and regulatory principles.
Diversity of members
Members will be appointed by the board in a personal capacity and will need to abide by a conflict of interest policy.
The FCA said it will also ensure diversity of the members of the committee, in line with its commitment to promoting diverse and inclusive financial services.
The committee is expected to meet for the first time in Q4 2022, and normally quarterly from then onwards, with those interested asked to contact the regulator by 16 September.
The FCA first published its ESG strategy in November and built it around five core themes:
- Transparency – promoting transparency on climate change and wider sustainability along the value chain;
- Trust – building trust and integrity in ESG-labelled instruments, products and the supporting ecosystem;
- Tools – working with others to enhance industry capabilities and support firms’ management of climate-related and wider sustainability risks, opportunities and impacts;
- Transition – supporting the role of finance in delivering a market-led transition to a more sustainable economy;
- Team – developing strategies, organisational structures, resources and tools to support the integration of ESG into FCA activities.