Financial Services Commission Implements ESG Evaluation Agency Guidance

Financial Services Commission

On the 31st, the Financial Services Commission announced that the "ESG Evaluation Agency Guidance" (Guidance), a model code of conduct for performing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluation tasks, will be implemented starting September 1. This is a measure following the "Plan to Enhance Transparency and Reliability of the ESG Evaluation Market" announced by the Financial Services Commission last May.

With support from the Financial Services Commission, Korea Exchange, and the Korea Capital Market Institute, three major domestic ESG evaluation agencies (Korea ESG Standards Institute, Korea ESG Research Institute, and Sustainvest) have prepared and are implementing this as a form of 'self-regulation.'

The Guidance does not regulate specific evaluation methods but presents best practices regarding the procedures and standards necessary when performing evaluation tasks. It consists of a total of six chapters and 21 articles. Each ESG evaluation agency voluntarily declares whether to participate in the Guidance.

The three ESG evaluation agencies have officially declared compliance with the Guidance and disclosed their compliance status through their respective websites. The 'Compliance Status Report' and 'Evaluation Methodology' they have disclosed are planned to be integrated and provided later through the Korea Exchange's ESG information platform, the 'ESG Portal.'

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