ESG

The plan is to establish regional hubs to enhance local connections in the countries rated by CARE

Revision to allow ERPs to rate unlisted securities and exempt them from disclosing ESG ratings to stock exchanges

The fund will utilize its proprietary framework to assess companies on their corporate governance practices.

ICRA ESG Ratings Limited has assigned its first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) rating to InCred Financial Services, a non-banking financial company. ICRA ESG received registration as a Category-I ESG Rating Provider (ERP) from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) earlier this fiscal. ICRA ESG was formerly known as Pragati Development Consulting Services Limited (PDCSL). "InCred Financial Services Limited, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) focused on personal loans, student loans, and business loans, has been assigned a rating of [ICRA ESG] Impact 57, Moderate," said ICRA ESG Ratings Limited (ICRA ESG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICRA, in a release. It further said the ICRA ESG-assigned ratings help investors assess the non-financial risks and opportunities associated with entities and facilitate making better investment decisions, paving the way for a more sustainable and responsible investment landscape. These ratings also help the rated entity gai

The CEA said that imposing these costs on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) before they can stand on their own feet would be counterproductive

The Securities and Exchange Board of India will consult on introducing social bonds, along with sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds

There is a need to create an "enabling framework" to help Indian companies issue environmental, social and governance (ESG) bonds locally, a senior RBI official said on Friday. Underlining that capital markets regulator Sebi which looks after the regulations for the bond markets has done significant work, Dimple Bhandia, the chief general manager in RBI, also rued that the development in the repo for corporate bonds has not been satisfactory. "...we find that lot of our companies are going overseas and issuing ESG bonds. This is an area where we need to look at an enabling framework," Bhandia said, speaking at an event organized by industry lobby grouping Assocham here. Another disappointment has been the "non-starter" credit derivatives market, she said, recalling that very limited number of trades have taken place in it. She, however, said that the overall secondary market activity in corporate bonds is not as bad as one would think. Bhandia said even though its base is lower,

Bengaluru-based Urban Vault reported a 41 per cent increase in rentals for ESG-certified properties during the third and fourth quarters of FY24

Sebi has also proposed to make the disclosures for value chain partners voluntary for the first year instead of comply or explain basis

About a dozen players dive into the fray

Capital markets regulator Sebi has given approval to CARE Ratings Ltd's subsidiary CARE ESG Ratings to provide environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings. Such ratings will enable the issuers to discern steps for the betterment of their sustainability performance. Having received the registration under the Sebi (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations on May 2, 2024, CARE ESG Ratings Ltd will commence its ESG rating activity, according to a statement issued by CareEdge Group on Friday. "With the use of ESG ratings, a sustainable growth journey of businesses can get an independent viewpoint. A business can now assess its relative position and take action to strengthen its sustainability policies & practices. Investors and stakeholders have adopted new perspectives on ESG-based reporting, and performance, both domestically and internationally," Mehul Pandya, MD and Group CEO of CareEdge, said. Last month, Sebi gave clearance to ICRA's subsidiary Pragati Development Consulting .

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According to the report, 21 per cent of these companies' spending in R&D was dedicated towards environmental and social activities

Rachel Richardson, head of ESG at London-based law firm Macfarlanes, says this year might be "a bit of a crunch point for both borrowers and lenders" in the market for sustainability-linked loans

Their recent underperformance vis-a-vis multi- and flexi-cap funds was due to predominantly large-cap exposure

India is yet to have a domestic carbon/green credit marketplace with the regulations for it under consideration. There are however independent agencies running such platforms

Begins assessment of borrowers on ESG norms

Falling borrowing costs and seemingly insatiable investor demand have turbo-charged issuance in bond markets across the globe

Streamlined regulatory approvals, sector-specific incentives would encourage firms to write acquisition cheques

Issuance of all kinds of ESG bonds - green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, or SLBs - jumped to $82.6 billion in November, up from $55.9 billion in October