Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) - Insurance

Introduction

Sustainable development has been a priority objective of the European Union’s internal and external policies in recent years, in particular, as regards its integration into the world of finance.

To establish harmonised rules conducive to green financing, the European Union adopted – amongst others – Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (SFDR)¹ on 27 November 2019.

The aim of this Regulation is to improve the transparency of disclosures about financial products’ degree of sustainability so as to move investment flows towards genuinely sustainable products and prevent greenwashing².

As an insurance broker (including a network of licensed sub-brokers) and financial adviser within the meaning of the Regulation, BIL is subject to new requirements for the distribution of insurance-based investment products (IBIP) and individual pension products exposed to market fluctuations:

• transparency regarding the integration of sustainability risks³ and
• consideration of the principal adverse sustainability impacts in the advice given by an insurance intermediary.

Please refer to the Sustainability Risk Policy and the “Statement on the consideration of principal adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors” / “No consideration of adverse impacts of (i) insurance advice (ii) investment advice on sustainability factors”.

¹ Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector
² Marketing method involving the misleading promotion of environmental arguments to enhance the image of a company or its brands
³ A sustainability risk means “an environmental, social or governance (ESG) event or condition that, if it occurs, could cause a negative material impact on the value of the investment”.