The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday it is revising the disclosure rules on sustainability measures of publicly listed companies to enhance the quality and ensure consistency in reporting.
It said in a statement it would soon issue the revised guidelines for PLCs that would include the sustainability reporting (SuRe) form to guide them on their reports.
The SEC said the revised guidelines would serve as an effective and proportionate global framework of investor-focused disclosures on sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities.
“This is a significant step towards consistent, comparable and reliable sustainability information, ending the so-called alphabet soup of voluntary adoption of various standards,” SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said.
Aquino said the adoption of global sustainability standards would also complement the SEC’s adoption of frameworks under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development -International Standards of Accounting and Reporting Guidance on Core Indicators.
The regulator said that since the issuance of the sustainability reporting guidelines in 2019, it saw a steady increase in the submission of sustainability reports by PLCs.
Compliance rate reached 95 percent in 2021 from around 22 percent prior to the release of the guidelines in 2017.
The SEC early this year adopted the ASEAN Sustainable and Responsible Fund Standards which will allow both local and ASEAN-member investment companies and collective investment scheme operators to offer sustainable and responsible funds locally and across the region.
The SEC bagged the Global Good Governance (3G) Advocacy and Commitment to Corporate Governance Award 2023 conferred by London-based Cambridge International Finance Advisory, marking the third straight year of receiving the award.
