Accounting and Credit Rating Industries Busy Expanding 'ESG' Organizations

Deloitte Group and Korea Investors Service Launch Specialized Centers One After Another

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Recently, as ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has emerged as a major topic in corporate management, the accounting and credit rating industries are accelerating the expansion of their organizations to grow their ESG-related businesses.

According to industry sources on the 5th, on the 2nd, Deloitte Korea Group launched the ‘ESG Management Specialized Center’ to provide forecasts of risk factors in industries and companies related to ESG and proactive response strategies. The ESG Center plans to support services such as ESG disclosures including the publication of sustainability management reports, investor communication, and the establishment of ESG strategy and management systems. It is composed of about 20 experts in various fields including management strategy, risk management, finance, and auditing.

On the same day, Korea Ratings also introduced the ‘ESG Evaluation Center.’ The ESG Certification Evaluation Team, which was previously operated as a team within the Business Valuation Headquarters, was upgraded to a center. This decision was made in anticipation of the expanding market for ESG-related financial product certification and evaluation. A Korea Ratings official explained, "As socially responsible investment is emphasized in the financial investment market recently, the importance of professionally and objectively evaluating ESG-related financial products is increasing."

The expansion of ESG organizations in these industries is primarily due to the rapidly growing demand. With the experience of COVID-19, corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues have become global topics, and domestic companies are also being actively required to engage in ESG management. The government’s Green New Deal and carbon neutrality policy announcements have increased demand for ESG responses from related companies, and financial authorities are also pushing for mandatory ESG disclosures for listed companies. The Financial Services Commission plans to mandate ESG disclosures from 2025 for KOSPI-listed companies with assets exceeding 2 trillion won. The issuance scale of ESG bonds, whose use of funds is restricted to environment, responsibility, and transparent management, is also increasing significantly. The scale of newly listed ESG bonds last year was 58.9 trillion won, about 2.3 times the 25.7 trillion won of the previous year.

An accounting industry official said, "The domestic ESG market and operations can still be considered in the early stages, but demand has recently exploded," adding, "Although it cannot be said to be highly profitable, the atmosphere for expanding ESG businesses as part of providing comprehensive consulting services is expected to continue for the time being."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.